


Our Fate in the Stars

by Squatta



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: AU, M/M, Romance, Some KiTaka
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-12
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-01-19 02:18:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 67,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1451830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Squatta/pseuds/Squatta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kise and Takao are best friends with a more than close relationship. But they are willing to change some aspects of their friendship if only they could meet the right person? KiTaka - MidoTaka, KiKuro.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I had this kind of idea for a while and it got to the point that I just had to start writing it. I really love the idea of Kise and Takao being best friends, so I added a bit of twist to that in this story. I also really love MidoTaka and KiKuro and have been wanting to write more about both of these couples. Hopefully this ends up being a story you will enjoy. ^^
> 
> Warnings:
> 
> \- Guy x guy  
> \- KiTaka (kinda) - eventual MidoTaka, KiKuro  
> \- Mature scenes

Takao took a deep sigh, running a hand through his hair. He dug through his pockets for the key to his apartment, inserting the key into the lock with a satisfying click.

"I'm home…" He mumbled half-heartedly, not even loud enough for anyone to have heard.

He flumped down by the entrance to messily take off his shoes and threw them to the side. Not even bothering to get up, he got on his knees and crawled towards the nearby kitchen – no one seemed to be there.

Deciding that crawling all throughout the apartment was just a little too pathetic; he slowly lifted himself up and plodded towards one of the bedrooms.

The door was ajar and a beam of light shone through into the hallway. Takao gently grabbed the edge of the door and peeked in to see his roommate sitting on his bed, laptop sitting on his lap and headphones over his ears. He slowly cracked the door open further and slid into the room.

"Ryou-chaaaan," Takao groaned as he entered.

His roommate must've had the volume on his headphones low, as he heard Takao's pitiful cry for attention.

"Eh? Kazucchi? You're home already?" His honey-colored eyes lifted to see his pouting roommate standing at the edge of his bed.

Takao said nothing and proceeded to flop face first onto an empty spot on the bed.

"Hey, hey, what happened?"

Takao turned his face to look up at his unfairly handsome roommate and childhood friend. His damn perfect blonde hair, his damn perfect beautiful face, his damn perfect everything. If Kise Ryouta wasn't his best friend, Takao imagined that he'd definitely be the kind of guy he'd hate the most. But he also figured that, in a weird way, that's probably what made their friendship so strong.

"I got dumped. Again," Takao turned his face to bury it into the blankets once again.

"Aww, what? I thought it was going so well with that guy," Kise took off his headphones and removed the laptop from his lap. He stretched out an arm and ran a comforting hand along Takao's back.

"Me too, that's why I decided to be a little truthful with him. Looks like it backfired though," Takao turned so that he was facing the ceiling. Kise continued comforting his friend by running his fingers through Takao's hair.

"Well, what happened?" Kise urged him to continue.

"Everything was going great. Dinner was nice and we had a good night out. But somehow we got onto the topic of past partners… I guess that's a really precarious subject for all couples, but if you're going to commit yourself to someone, it's their right to know about their partner's past, y'know? So I was just honest with him," Takao sighed, resting his hands on his stomach.

"Ah…" Kise said knowingly. "I don't think I even know that number…"

"That's kind of what I told him," Takao groaned, "And then he asked what that meant, and I just said that I had lost count. He looked shocked when I told him that. He asked if I could at least try to give him an estimate, and I said 'maybe more than fifty'…" Takao covered his face with his hands.

"That sounds about right. Unfortunately," Kise commented.

"And then he just blurted out, 'So you just sleep with anyone?' I couldn't believe it! We've been dating for three months and I hadn't been with anyone except him, not even once! I might've slept with a bunch of guys, but I'm not a damn cheater!" Takao raised his voice in frustration; Kise continued to give him his support by agreeing with him.

"Then he asked about you…" Takao said quietly.

"…What did he say?" Kise hesitated, knowing what Takao was going to say next.

"He asked if I had ever slept with you. The cat was out of the bag anyway, so I said 'Yeah, of course'. That was pretty much the last straw for him… He said he didn't think he could be with 'someone like me'. The asshole…" Takao mumbled. He turned to face in Kise's direction, settling his head on Kise's lap, Kise stroking his hair lightly.

"I'm sorry that happened, Kazucchi," Kise said in a kind voice.

Takao let out a deep sigh, "It's okay… I'm used to it by now."

Kise noticed Takao's eyes watering a bit and made a worried face. This kind of situation happened way too often, not just in Takao's case, but his as well. For some reason, neither of the two could hold a relationship for very long. Kise was never as torn up over his break-ups as Takao was, but that didn't mean that he wanted to find someone any less. So after every break-up, they always went to each other for comfort.

Takao moved a bit, wrapping his arms around Kise's waist, "Hey, Ryou-chan…" He mumbled.

"Hm?"

"Let's do it…" Takao buried his face against Kise's hip.

"I thought you wanted us to stop doing that?" Kise sighed slightly, but didn't move from his spot.

"Just one more time," Takao said quietly.

"Alright…" Kise gave his friend a reassuring pat on the head. Takao always said that it was going to be 'one more time' but he never had the heart to deny him.

Takao and Kise met during middle school. Their personalities seemed so different yet so similar at the same time, and that sort of formula caused them to hit it off almost instantly. It didn't take them long to get comfortable with each other, and it only seemed natural for the both of them to share their sexual exploration together. It felt good and they were best friends – what could've been better? Neither of them found it strange, so they continued to do various things with each other whenever they felt the need. It became something no different than playing a video game or watching a movie together.

When they got to high school, they mutually agreed to try being with other people. They knew by then that the things they did together was usually done with the person you were supposedly dating. Kise dated girls, and Takao stuck with guys. There were good relationships and bad ones, but they always ended the same way. When neither of them was dating someone, they found themselves continuously going back to each other for release. They had agreed that, at this point, their 'friends-with-benefits' relationship was alright as long as one of them wasn't dating.

It took until their second year of high school for them to realize that maybe they should try dating each other. It seemed like the perfect solution to their problem, they were best friends, they had sex with each other, and they enjoyed each other's company… It seemed perfect. It worked for a while, but when it came down to it, even if their friendship was strong, they just couldn't see themselves as romantic partners. And they went back to the same routine.

After high school, Takao applied for college and he and Kise decided on renting a place near his university. Living together was surprisingly nice as they understood almost everything about each other. They were also both quite busy so they often weren't home together to begin with, but when they were they enjoyed each other's company.

Both of them were twenty now and they have yet to find an end to their cycle of break-ups. They knew they could change their relationship to just 'friends' and remove the 'benefits', but they just couldn't find the right person for each other.

Lately, Takao had been a bit more upset over his break-ups. Before, he'd usually just shrug his shoulders and say something jokingly to Kise like, 'It looks like we can go at it until the next one, then!' but now it just seemed that he wanted to be comforted emotionally and physically every time. Takao had even said that maybe they should stop this kind of relationship even if they weren't committing themselves to another person, but he never really went through with it. Kise couldn't really blame him because he never made much of an attempt to end it either.

"Fuck…" Takao hissed under his breath, feeling Kise slam into him, the bed creaking slightly under their weight.

Kise tried steadying his erratic breathing as he wiped the sweat from his brow and leaned forward a bit, grabbing onto Takao's shoulder.

"I'm… gonna cum…." Takao whined as his hand pumped fervently at his cock.

Kise just hummed a go-ahead as he thrust his hips forward with more force, sending Takao's body lurching forward with every shove.

"Ah, ahhh!" Takao let out a loud moan as he released himself onto the bed.

It didn't take long for Kise to climax inside of Takao, one hand gripping hard on his shoulder and the other at his waist.

They both collapsed, spent and breathing heavily. Kise slowly pulled himself out of Takao, gingerly taking off the condom, tying it, and tossing it towards the trash. He looked back over to see Takao's back, his shoulder rising and falling as he made steady breaths. Kise reached around, draping his arm over Takao and pulling him closer to him so that their bodies were against each other.

They lay in silence for a moment, their breathing being the only sound in the room.

"Sorry," Takao let out a half-hearted laugh, still facing away from Kise.

"It's alright, it's not like this is the first time we've done this," Kise joked lightly, resting his forehead against the back of Takao's neck.

Takao paused for a moment, "Do you mind if I sleep in here tonight?"

"Of course not." Kise said gently.

"Thanks. Sorry I jizzed on your sheets."

Kise laughed and reached for the blankets to cover themselves with. He kicked the sheets off onto the floor.

* * *

"Shit! I'm gonna be late!" Takao said out loud as he ran as fast as he could all the way to the other side of the campus.

It didn't even cross his mind that he had class the next day when he decided to fall asleep in Kise's room the previous night. Fortunately, Kise had set an alarm to wake up for a modeling shoot he had that day. Unfortunately, that alarm went off twenty minutes before Takao's class started. Takao cursed to himself for being so affected by the previous day's break-up that he had to, yet again, seek out his best friend for comfort.

When Takao graduated high school, he really didn't know what he wanted to get into for a career. All he knew was that he didn't want a typical, boring, office job like half of what the people in his high school were probably going to end up doing. There was no way he could get a modeling job like Kise. He considered himself a pretty good-looking guy, just not model material. And he didn't think he could handle the attention that Kise seemed to have gotten.

So he ended up choosing nursing. It wasn't his dream job or anything, but Takao did like working with people and his grades were surprisingly good, so he figured why not try medical school?

His only problem was his carefree attitude. It wasn't like the professor was going to scold him if he was late, he wasn't in high school anymore, but missing any bit of his classes could put him in an irreversible rut when it came to exam time.

With the lecture hall in sight, Takao picked up the pace as much as he could and ran headlong, making a beeline towards the building. He concentrated so much on just getting there on time that he didn't even consider that other people would probably be sharing the walkway with him, and ran straight into another person.

The velocity of how fast he was going was pretty high, but fortunately when he fell he caught himself on his hands and knees before he could face-plant into the concrete. The other person managed not to fall over, but whatever they were carrying hit the ground with a loud thunk.

"Shit! I'm so sorry! Let me get that for you," Takao hurriedly apologized while standing back up and reached for the object that rolled next to him.

He paused for a moment when he saw the object. _'Is this… a frog statue?'_ Despite being thrown off a bit by the cartoon-like figure, Takao picked it up and turned to see the person he ran into.

The scowl he was currently wearing on his face contrasted with his good looks. He adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose, and Takao noticed his fingers neatly wrapped in tape.

_'A frog statue and taped fingers? What a strange guy...'_ He thought to himself as he held out the object to the man, who snatched it back with an irritated huff.

"I'm really sorry, I'm late for my class and I was in a hurry," Takao apologized again and bowed slightly.

The other man made an adjustment to his glasses again, "Learn to be more careful," he said coldly, before promptly turning around and walking off.

Takao probably would've stood there scratching his head for a bit longer over the strange character he had just met, but getting to his class on time seemed a bit more important.

* * *

"Turn this way for me, Kise!" The photographer shouted.

Kise turned his body slightly towards the camera and flashed his signature smile before what seemed like the millionth camera flash to go off for that day filled his vision.

"Alright, that's good! I think we're done for today."

Kise's smile dropped immediately as he let out a long sigh. Some days his modeling career was quite fulfilling, other days it was just a hassle.

He stretched his arms over his head as he walked off the set and towards his dressing room.

Kise got into modeling when he was fifteen years old. He was scouted on the street one day and never turned back since. His success sky-rocketed when he was seventeen, and it wasn't uncommon to see his face on billboards around Tokyo. It was still surreal to see himself all over the place and on television. He enjoyed what he did, but he couldn't help but wonder if there was something else out there for him. He figured that this was good for now, though. It much more than paid the bills and his popularity gave him access to have a pretty colorful dating life.

"Hey, Kise, don't forget about your four o' clock interview today. Don't relax just yet," his manager showed up just when he was wondering if he could sneak a nap in.

"Aww, Kasamatsu-san, do I _really_ have to go to that interview?" He pouted.

"Yes! This is an incredibly important interview with one of the bestselling fashion magazines in Japan, so you can't screw it up!" He said sternly.

Kise grumbled but he knew he couldn't go against what his manager said – he was pretty much a hard-ass when it came to his job, but Kise knew he'd be doomed without him.

"Just let me take a fifteen… no – a ten minute nap at least," he sighed, opening up the door to his dressing room. "And could you get Mari to bring me a coffee? I think I'll pass out mid-interview without it." He flopped down on the couch and slumped back in exhaustion.

"Have you really forgotten? Mari had to quit since having her baby. You really are out of it," Kasamatsu crossed his arms and stood across from Kise.

"Ah, dammit, that's right. What the hell am I going to do without my assistant?" Kise whined, putting a hand up to his face.

"Shut up, you'll survive," Kasamatsu wacked him a across the shoulder with his clipboard, Kise giving a short yelp. "But you're in luck; we have a new intern at the company and if you'd allow him to, he'll be your assistant until we can find you a new one."

"Anything as long as I get my latte…" Kise said in an exhausted voice.

"Here you go."

Kise jumped at the unfamiliar voice and looked over to his left to see a young, light blue-haired guy he had never met before holding out a cup of coffee.

"Uh?" Kise just stared at him open-mouthed without moving a muscle.

"Oh, Kuroko, I didn't notice you there," Kasamatsu seemed a bit shocked as well. "This is the new intern, Kuroko Tetsuya.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Kuroko said in a soft-spoken voice.

"Nice to meet you too…" Kise nodded his head and took the coffee from Kuroko.

"I'll be going now to leave you for your nap. Please let me know whenever you need something else," Kuroko gently bowed and left the room.

Kise watched as the door closed behind the intern and turned his attention back onto his manager.

"Was he here for that whole conversation?" He asked with confusion.

"I… I don't know, really…" Kasamatsu scratched the back of his head, questioning the same thing.


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm home," Kise announced, walking through the front door and carefully taking off and setting his shoes aside.

"Welcome back," Takao called out from the living room.

Kise walked over to Takao who had situated himself upside-down on the couch, his legs draped over the back and head hanging off the seat, holding a book out above his head.

"You studying?" Kise asked, sitting down next to Takao who closed the book and rested it on his stomach.

"Yeah, I have a test tomorrow. It's a pain to learn all of these terms in Latin – no one even speaks it anymore, so why do we still use it for all the medical stuff?" Takao groaned and righted himself on the couch. "Anyway, how was your day?"

"Exhausting," Kise sighed and slumped against the couch. "Kasamatsu-san booked me for what seemed like a thousand appointments today. It's probably strange to say – but some days I wish I wasn't so popular."

Takao giggled and rested his head on Kise's shoulder, "Oh, what a burden, you're attractive and you have girls and boys alike swooning over you everywhere you go."

"Yeah, yeah," Kise gave a playful thunk on Takao's head. "And you're the lucky guy who gets to live with me."

"Yeah, it does feel pretty good to be the envy of all your fangirls," Takao smirked "I could tell them so many embarrassing stories about you too. Like how you spend your free time dancing and singing to K-pop music. Or how you cry during almost _every_ movie, even the ones that aren't that sad." He paused for a moment and gave a devious smile. "Or I could show them those _really_ embarrassing pictures from that one party a few years ago."

"Eh!? You wouldn't do that!" Kise sat up straight, causing Takao to lose his resting spot, but it didn't really matter as he started laughing at Kise's seriously concerned face.

Kise pinched and poked at his side, right where Takao was ticklish. Takao let out a howl of laughter, falling off the couch with a thump. Kise laughed as soon as he gathered that his friend hadn't hurt himself from the fall, helping him up when their laughter had subsided.

Takao wiped a tear from his hysterics from his eye and climbed his way back on the couch, Kise looking over at him with a smirk on his face.

"I guess you're feeling better today?" Kise asked. He hadn't asked his friend about how he was doing since the night of his break-up.

"Oh, I'm fine," Takao gave a reassuring smile. "It hurts to get dumped like that... But I'm kinda used to it. I don't need a guy like that if he's going to drop me so easily anyway." Takao stretched his arms over his head and settled them on the back of the couch. "Its' back to the single life for me, I guess. I'm just lucky that you so happened to be single when I needed you the most," he joked.

"I still would've been there for you, silly. Just not in... that way," Kise ruffled Takao's hair playfully.

"I knowww," Takao hummed and plopped his head on Kise's lap. "Because you loooove me~" He smiled slyly up at his best friend.

"Of course I doooo." Kise gave an amused huff and pinched Takao's nose, who gave a squeal of protest.

* * *

Takao grumbled as he waited for his most boring class to start. It was in one of those gigantic lecture halls since pretty much every student at the campus needed to take this class for a mandatory credit. Takao had put off taking this class the past semesters, but with this new semester, he knew he had to suck it up and take it eventually. It hadn't been very long into the semester and he was already sick of the boring professor that droned on for the entire hour and a half.

He glanced around the room, noticing that almost everyone who took this class was probably in their first or second semester as none of them looked familiar. So obviously, none of his friends were in this class to save him from his boredom.

At least he felt a little better about his break-up after Kise and him went out for a drink the other night to let loose. Despite a few people recognizing Kise and fangirling over him, the night went smoothly and it was nice to just forget about everything and have fun. Not even a few rabid fangirls could get in between he and Kise's friendship, and that's when he knew that he definitely had a friend for life.

Kise was always that comforting constant in his life, so it made sense that his best friend always made him feel better, even after all of his shitty experiences in his dating life. If only he and Kise could work out romantically - it'd be perfect. Oh well, he thought, at least there was one person in his life that'd never let him down.

He sighed, crossing his arms on the table and setting his head down, eyeing the entrance into the lecture hall as he waited for the professor to walk through the doors. A few people walked in as the minutes passed, but no professor. It made sense, as he always came _right_ when the class started.

But someone else came through the doors that caught Takao's attention: the guy he ran into the other day. He was surprised he never noticed that he was in this class before; it was pretty hard to miss that green hair of his. And today he didn't have that silly frog statue. Instead he held a mini-daruma in his taped fingers. He walked in quickly and quietly and sat a few rows in front of Takao. Takao just watched as he efficiently took out his book and pencil and neatly set them on the desk in front of him, setting the daruma on the desk as well.

Takao definitely knew he was one of those serious-types. He was most likely in medical school to become a doctor, possibly a surgeon. He looked pretty goody-goody too; his parents were probably rich.

As Takao made up scenarios about the stranger in his class, he failed to notice that the professor had already walked into the room and begun the lecture. He sat up out of his daydreams and shook the thoughts out of his head. If he didn't pay attention in this class, as boring as it was, he'd probably have to repeat taking it. And there was no way he was going to do that.

* * *

"Here is your water, Kise-san," Kuroko said flatly, and seemingly out of nowhere as Kise jumped a bit in surprise.

"O-Oh, thanks, Kuroko," Kise smiled lightly and took the water from his temp-assistant.

Kuroko had been filling in as his assistant for about a week now and he still couldn't quite figure out how this guy managed to sneak up on him every single time, even though he always claimed to have been there the whole time.

Kise took a swig of his water before the make-up artist went in to touch-up his face. He was only halfway done with his photo shoot for today.

"Ah, you don't have to be so formal with me either," he looked at Kuroko through the mirror, "You're my age, right? It feels weird if you address me so politely," he gave a reassuring smile.

"Um, okay, Kise… kun?" Kuroko tilted his head a bit.

"Eh, good enough!" Kise set the bottle on the table in front of him.

His new assistant was pretty cute, but he was one, big question mark. Despite him being easy on the eyes, there was just way too much mystery behind his innocent face. Kise wouldn't mind getting to know him better, but just knowing that he wouldn't be there for long kind of ruined any chance of that happening. At least he had a cute assistant while it lasted.

The make-up artist patted him on the shoulder, signaling that she was done with his touch-up. Kise lingered in his seat for a bit as there was still a few more minutes until he had to go back out.

"Kise!" An excited Kasamatsu came running up to him. "I have amazing news!"

"What is it?" Kise asked with interest, it was rare to see Kasamatsu so worked up.

"You just got an offer to play a role on a television drama! And not only that – it's a main character role! Can you believe it?"

Kise's eyes widened and mouth dropped in surprise. "Huh!? Really?"

"Yes! Kise, if you don't take this offer you'll be making a huge mistake. This is a terrific opportunity," Kasamatsu went back to his serious demeanor and seemed be threatening Kise more than encouraging him.

"But, I've never acted before…" Kise had only done a few commercials, and even in those he was just being himself and saying a few lines. So besides that, he had never done any sort of acting before in his life. Well, except one time in a 3rd grade play.

"You'll be fine! You do well in interviews and at live events, you're charismatic and charming. I'm sure you'll pick up acting easily," Kasamatsu pressed, hovering over Kise with every word.

"Well…" Kise thought for a moment. He had never heard Kasamatsu say such nice things to him before, he kind of wanted to revel in it, but he knew his manager was saying those things mostly to get him to take on the role. But Kise really would love to do something different than just photo shoots and interviews. He had considered acting as many of his model co-workers had done it, but he never really pursued it. Maybe this was his chance for something different in his life.

"I think you should do it, Kise-kun."

Kise's head turned to his other side, where he had almost forgotten that Kuroko had been standing there and hadn't left. "Huh?"

"I believe you can do it. I may have only been your assistant for a week, but after watching you for this short amount of time, I think you can do anything if you try," Kuroko kept a straight face but his words were genuine.

"Kuroko…" Kise looked up at him, slightly taken aback. This whole time he thought Kuroko had been incredibly indifferent to him, he never would've thought that he felt any sort of emotion towards him. "I'll… I'll do it." He said with a resolve. "Well, I at least want to know about it before I make my final decision."

"Great! Don't worry, we'll have a meeting with the producers before they get your final decision. Trust me, Kise, this is the best decision for you at this moment," Kasamatsu gave a reassuring grin and a firm pat on the shoulder before running off and pulling out his cellphone to call whoever.

Kise turned his head to thank Kuroko for his encouraging words, but he was gone from the room without a trace. He looked around a bit but to no avail – once again Kuroko had came and vanished like some sort of ghost. He settled back in his chair and let out a thoughtful sigh. His life was probably going to change a lot from today on. He felt the excitement and nervousness finally start to wash over him as he realized that this was something incredibly major.

* * *

"So? Are you going to tell me what this big news is?" Takao questioned eagerly. He and Kise were sitting on their couch. Takao had just gotten off of his part-time job at the bookstore and he had been waiting to see what this special news of Kise's was ever since he got a text about it earlier that day.

"I got a really great job opportunity," Kise said. Takao nodded with interest, encouraging him to continue. "I got asked to be a main character on an upcoming romance drama!"

"Woah, that's amazing!" Takao jumped up a bit off the couch "Please tell me you're going to take that job."

"Kasamatsu-san and I still have to meet with the producers, but apparently they're really eager for me to have this part and I decided that I'm going to take it," Kise couldn't help but smile over his friend's excitement.

"Awesome!" Takao shouted and tackled Kise into a bear hug. "Ahhh I'm so proud of you! My little Ryou-chan is growing up!"

Kise laughed and patted Takao on the back.

"Ah, we have to celebrate!" Takao jumped off the couch and ran into the kitchen. "I think this is the perfect moment to break out the good wine."

"You mean the wine that _I_ got as a gift for doing that one magazine shoot?" Kise joked as he walked into the kitchen after Takao.

"Details, details. I'm not a superstar like you so its not like I can get this kind of alcohol every day," Takao dug through the drawers for the corkscrew while Kise got out two wine glasses.

Once the bottle was opened and the wine was in the glasses, they toasted to Kise's success. They moved their drinking out onto the veranda where they talked and joked for the rest of the night. Neither of them really cared about their responsibilities the next morning, because this was a rare opportunity for them to let loose and have fun despite their busy lives.

"Oh man, I don't know if I can handle seeing you on TV saying some cheesy romantic lines," Takao slurred a bit, pouring his fourth glass of wine.

"Ahhh don't let me think about that, that's what I'm worried about the most," Kise grumbled.

"Why? It's not like you haven't already charmed the pants off of a bajillion people already; you should be a pro at it by now," Takao snickered, taking a sip.

"Yeah, but that and being romantic are different," Kise pouted, "and you know I suck at being a romantic."

"Nahhhh you're plenty romantic," Takao vehemently disagreed. "Try it on me right now. Say something that'll get me to fall head-over-heels for you.

"Kazucchi, we already tried this before," Kise slowly reached for the wine bottle to fill his empty glass.

"I know, but just pretend I'm someone different. Someone you know that isn't me," Takao encouraged.

"Hmmmm..." Kise thought for a moment, "Kasamatsu-san would just beat me no matter what, so I can't pretend you're him." Takao let out a guffaw; he had met Kasamatsu on a few occasions and knew exactly what Kise was talking about. "My fans would fall for me even if I just said 'hello' to them. Umm…" He took a thoughtful sip of his wine. "Ah! I'll pretend you're my new assistant."

"Oh? Are they cute?" Takao asked and wiggled his eyebrows which got a laugh out of Kise.

"Yeah, he's pretty cute, but he's so difficult to read. Nice guy, though," Kise remembered the words of encouragement he had provided earlier that day. Kuroko seemed like a good neutral as his make-believe 'romantic interest', so he apologized in his head to his temp-assistant for using him as practice material. "Well, here goes," Kise cleared his throat, trying to get into acting mode as much as possible while inebriated.

"Kuroko, there's been something I've been wanting to tell you for a long time," Kise looked at Takao seriously. Takao was already trying his best to not burst out laughing. Kise was feeling a bit strange, picturing his young assistant in his mind that he barely knew while he thought of a good fake confession. "Whenever I think of you, my heart beats like crazy. It feels like I'm floating on air, I'm happy just being near you. I feel like I'm a complete person when I'm with you. Kuroko, I…" he made a dramatic pause. "I love you."

Takao couldn't take it anymore and burst out laughing. Kise whined and playfully hit Takao on the shoulder for laughing at his acting.

"Oh man! I can't take it!" Takao managed to say in between laughs.

"Ehh, Kazucchi is mean!" Kise pouted and crossed his arms like a child not getting his way.

Takao's laughs calmed down a bit and he wiped a tear from his eye, "That was great though, really, it was cheesy enough to be in one of those dramas."

Kise groaned, "But I don't want to make the drama 'cheesy'! That was me trying seriously too."

"Aw, there, there," Takao patted Kise on the shoulder, "I think you turned me on a bit though, so it must've worked."

"That's just because you get horny when you drink," Kise mumbled into his whine glass.

"Ah, oh yeah," Takao giggled and finished off the rest of the wine in his glass. He stood from his chair (a bit wobbly) and went over to Kise, sitting on his lap so that they were face to face. "I'll let you do whatever you want with me as your congratulatory present then." He wrapped his arms around the back of Kise's neck.

Kise scoffed playfully at Takao's behavior. It always came to this, but tonight was a night they were letting lose anyway. "Hmm, tempting, but what if I say no?" Kise settled his hands on Takao's hips.

"I'll be sad considering I'm painfully hard right now," Takao said bluntly.

Kise laughed, "Wanna do it out on the veranda?"

"Oh, that sounds kinky as hell," Takao sounded a little too enthused.

"…We are not doing that," Kise gave a light pat on Takao's back and made to get up out of the chair. Takao nearly stumbled when he got up.

"Shit, I wonder if I'm even going to remember this in the morning. You better make it memorable," Takao grumbled.

Kise smirked and walked back inside the apartment, Takao following close by.

* * *

Takao slapped at his face for the umpteenth time in a poor attempt to stay awake during his most boring lecture of the day. He and Kise stayed up way too late doing way too many things for him to be in class at the moment, not to mention the killer hangover he had, but he was committed to not missing any of his lectures.

His gaze occasionally went to his green-haired classmate – today it seemed that he brought a small cactus. An actual cactus. Takao had tried figuring out exactly why he brought some random item to school every day, but he hadn't figured out what it could possibly be.

Takao was grateful when the lecture finally ended and he could finally grab some lunch and something with lots of caffeine to get him through the rest of his classes. He noticed that the guy with the green hair usually went to the cafeteria the same time as him and always sat by himself in a lonely corner. It was a bit sad to see day after day when Takao could usually find someone he knew already at the cafeteria to chat and hang out with.

And yet again, he was sitting all by himself, eating his lunch quietly. Takao wasn't really sure why, but he decided that today was the day that he'd attempt talking to him again. Maybe all the guy really wanted was a friend, as Takao had never seen him interacting with anyone else before.

Takao grabbed a sandwich and a canned espresso, paid for his food, and made his way over to the table where his lone subject sat.

"Anyone sitting here?" He asked as he approached, knowing the answer before even asking.

"…No," the man replied curtly, barely sparing Takao a glance.

Takao smiled slightly and sat across from him, wondering how this was going to play out. The man across from him kept his eyes downcast at his food and continued eating despite the presence of company. Takao waited a few seconds to see if he'd make any attempts at conversation... it didn't look like that was going to happen.

"Hey, again," Takao said cheerfully. "I'm really sorry about running into you the other day, but I thought maybe we could get to know each other or something."

At that the man looked up, Takao just now noticing how long his eyelashes were. His eyes made a glint of realization as he remembered Takao.

"Oh. You're the guy who was late to class," he pushed up his glasses. "Be lucky that you didn't end up breaking Kerosuke."

_'Who the hell is Kerosuke?'_ Takao thought to himself, but didn't bother to ask out loud. "Y-Yeah, sorry about that. Anyway, I noticed that you're in my-"

"What is your sign?" The man interrupted in a stern tone.

"Err, my sign? You mean like, astrology?" Takao asked.

"Yes."

"Um, it's Scorpio, but I don't…" Takao didn't manage to finish his sentence before the green-haired man promptly gathered his things, stood up from his seat, and walked off.

Takao just watched, dumbfounded. He couldn't even process fast enough what just happened before the guy was gone and out of sight. He didn't do anything for a moment as he just stared at the now empty seat across from him.

"He seriously just walked off without saying anything…" he said under his breath.

Takao slumped in his chair and looked out across the cafeteria. After a moment of thinking about what just happened, he let out a short laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really excited about this story and I hope you guys are too! I'm so excited about it that it didn't take me long to crank out another chapter ^^ Yay for no delays! Midorima and Takao & Kise and Kuroko will start interacting with each other more starting next chapter. I also enjoy writing about Kise and Takao's daily lives.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for the kind words and the people that have followed and reviewed so far! I'm glad to see the interest in this story. :3 I hope you continue to read~ See you next chapter. (^_^) /


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey, Ryou-chan, what do you think it means when someone just gets up and walks away when you're in the middle of a conversation with them?" Takao asked in a lazy voice as he twirled a pen between his fingers and stared blankly at the notes for his test.

"Huh? Uh… I would think that that person doesn't like you. At all," Kise looked up from his laptop screen with a raised eyebrow.

Takao let out an audible groan and dropped the pen onto his notebook.

"Don't tell me that happened to you?" Kise peeked over at his friend sitting at their dining table from the couch.

"Yeah, some guy in one of my classes did exactly that! I dunno why but it really bothers me…" Takao picked up his pen again and began to click it under his thumb.

"Wow, that's a surprise. People really get along with you almost the instant they meet you. Maybe he was just having a really bad day?" Kise suggested.

"Yeah, maybe. It doesn't really matter I guess, but I was only trying to be friendly since the guy didn't seem to  _have_  any friends," Takao pouted.

"Well, I think that's a good indicator that he probably wasn't the most pleasant person to strike up a conversation with, don't let it bother you." Kise went back to typing something on his computer, probably responding to an e-mail from his manager.

"I guess you're right. You're so smart, Ryou-chan! What would I ever do if I hadn't met you?"

"Your innocence may have stayed intact. Same goes for mine," Kise joked.

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Takao comically puffed his cheeks.

"Just because it's bad doesn't mean I can't enjoy it," Kise gave a wink.

"Yeahhh whatever, don't give me that wink Mr. TV-star. Gross," Takao tossed the pencil in Kise's direction, hitting him right on the head.

"Ow, Kazucchi! That could've taken my eye out!" Kise whined and rubbed his head.

"Nah it wouldn't have. You know I'm a good aim, you big baby," Takao stuck his tongue out.

"Well, that's true but don't throw your stupid pencils at me," Kise stuck his tongue out too.

* * *

Takao was up early for his class that he had that morning. He hated that they had to be so damn early, wasn't it torture enough for twelve years in grade school? Couldn't college be a little more forgiving by not scheduling classes until like, noon?

Takao shuffled into the kitchen to make some coffee – he'd need it. Not only was it for waking him up, the weather was starting to get cold and he figured a cup of coffee would do good for warming him up a bit.

Just as the coffeemaker started to brew, he heard a knock at the door. Takao was confused at first, but figured it was probably someone for Kise, namely his manager. It wasn't uncommon for Kasamatsu to come at unexpected hours of the day to drag Kise out because of an early morning appointment or another. Takao figured this was the case as Kise was still sound asleep in his bed. Although, the knocks didn't sound quite as frantic, so maybe it wasn't Kasamatsu?

Takao walked over to the front entrance, opening the door and being met with big, blue eyes.

"Uh…" Takao stood there for a moment trying to figure out who this person was. He was definitely cute, though, that much he could tell.

"I'm sorry, is this Kise-kun's residence?" The young man asked in a rather soft voice.

"Um, do you mind if I ask who you are?" Takao wasn't going to just say 'Yeah! Kise, that really famous model lives here!' to a total stranger – what if he was a rabid fan?

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry. My name is Kuroko Tetsuya, I work for Kise-kun's company and I'm his assistant at the moment," Kuroko bowed slightly. "I'm afraid I don't have any business cards yet, or I would offer you one."

"No, no, it's fine! My name is Takao Kazunari, Ryou-chan's roommate. Ryou-chan told me about you so you're welcome to come in. Sorry, I hope you understand why I had to be a little apprehensive about you." Takao ushered Kuroko in with a smile.

"Of course, you are only looking out for Kise-kun's safety, right? Please excuse the intrusion…" Kuroko walked in and politely took his shoes off while Takao closed the door.

"Exactly. And uh, I hope that appointment isn't too soon because the lazy bum is still asleep. Let me go wake him up for you, feel free to have a seat." Takao motioned over to the couch as he walked down the hallway to Kise's room.

It was only a few moments after Kuroko sat down on the couch that he heard a loud thud coming from down the hall and the hurried sound of footsteps.

"S-Sorry, Kuroko! I could've sworn I set my alarm!" Kise came out looking panicked and disheveled in a t-shirt and boxer-briefs from just being woken up.

"It's fine, Kasamatsu-senpai told me this was bound to happen so he told me to come early just in case," Kuroko responded in a calm matter.

"Ah, danggit, why is he always right?" Kise muttered in frustration. "Anyway, I'll go get ready. It won't take long, I promise!" Kise stumbled back to his room and Takao came into the living room with a failed attempt to hold back his snickers.

"He's always like that, you'll get used to it. If it were Kasamatsu, he'd be yelling and screaming at him the whole time he was getting ready."

"Kasamatsu-senpai certainly is a strict person," Kuroko nodded in agreement. This quiet, gentle person was definitely a lot better than Kasamatsu, Takao thought.

"Hey, do you want some coffee while you wait? I just got done brewing some," Takao offered.

"If you don't mind, yes please. But I take a lot of milk and sugar," Kuroko responded.

"That's fine, we have plenty!" Takao thought even the way Kuroko took his coffee was pretty cute.

After fixing a coffee for himself and Kuroko, he walked back into the living room, handing a mug to Kuroko receiving a quiet 'thank you', and sat down on the couch next to him. Takao took a sip of his coffee and glanced over at Kuroko next to him. Kuroko was holding the mug with two hands, blowing small breaths of the coffee to cool it. After a few seconds, he took a tiny sip, and made the slightest reaction that seemed to indicate that it was still too hot to drink.

"Do you want more milk? That could help cool it down a little," Takao suggested, taking another sip from his mug.

"Ah, I'm fine, thank you," Kuroko blushed slightly and gave another quick blow over his coffee.

Takao wasn't really into cute guys that much. He liked them a little more masculine and handsome. Whenever a guy who looked a little too soft for his tastes hit on him he usually made it clear that he wasn't interested. But Kuroko was a bit different – he was definitely cute, but upon further inspection it was obvious he had some underlying masculine features. The skin of his face was smooth, but it was definitely a man's face despite his soft eyes and facial features. And Takao could tell that his body was in pretty good condition, even with his sweater on.

Takao smirked slightly. It was probably a bad idea to hit on Kise's assistant but he said he was temporary, right?

"How is it working in the company? I'm sure Ryou-chan is a handful," Takao struck up friendly conversation.

"He is at times, but he is good at his job so I can't really complain," Kuroko replied simply. "You two must be good friends since you live together."

"Oh yeah, we've been best friends for years," Takao replied with a grin.

"That's wonderful, I'm glad that Kise-kun has someone like you to support him. I know my best friend is very important to me as well," Kuroko smiled slightly.

Damn, he was cute.

"Aww, Kuroko, how could Ryou-chan get such a nice assistant like you? Why don't you quit and be my assistant instead?" Takao joked and let out a small chuckle.

"Oh, are you a model too, Takao-san?" Kuroko asked with an inquisitive face.

"Ah, no, I was just messing with you," Takao gave a playful, light jab to Kuroko's arm. "I'm just a simple college student."

"That is still quite impressive, what are you going to school for?"

"Believe it or not – nursing. It's hard work but I like helping people," Takao took another sip of his coffee and set it down on the table.

"That's wonderful, I wish you all the best," Kuroko replied kindly.

"Thanks, Kuroko-chan! If you ever need some tending to you can always come to me," Takao gave a sly grin and inched slightly closer to Kuroko.

"Thank you, I'll keep that in mind," Kuroko didn't seem fazed, or maybe he just didn't notice – either way he showed no reaction at all.

"Okay, I'm ready! I'm really sorry about having to make you wait, Kuroko," Kise came out back into the living room looking a lot less disheveled but still a bit panicked.

"It's alright, I believe we still have some time," Kuroko stood up from the couch, Takao did likewise. "It was nice meeting you, Takao-kun, I'm sorry we have to rush off so soon."

"I gotta get going soon myself, can't miss today's lectures," Takao said and stretched a bit. "See ya later, Ryou-chan. It was nice meeting you as well, Kuroko-chan, feel free to come fetch our superstar model whenever you need," he gave a wink and patted Kuroko on the shoulder before heading off towards the bathroom.

Kuroko and Kise both made their leave, Kise sighed as he shut the door behind him.

"Kazucchi didn't say anything weird, right?" Kise asked. He loved Takao, but he  _knew_  how he was, especially around good looking guys.

"Not at all. Takao-kun was very nice, you have a good friend," Kuroko replied as they walked to the elevator of the apartment.

"Ah… That's good," Kise said in relief.

* * *

Takao was late pretty often to his earliest class of the day, but today he got there right on time. It was a lot smaller than his huge lecture hall one and significantly less boring, but he really wished it wasn't so early.

"Oh, you're actually on time today," Takao's friend, Miyaji, said with slight surprise.

"Ehh shut up, I'm not late that often," Takao took a seat next to him and slumped in the chair.

"Really? You really think that?" Miyaji looked at him in disbelief.

"Okay, okay, I know I'm not always on time but I can't help it, I need my beauty sleep," Takao crossed his arms and nodded.

"Uhg," Miyaji just groaned.

Thanks to the coffee and the happenings of his interesting morning, Takao actually didn't feel the sudden urge to fall asleep in the middle of class so he got through it successfully. And afterwards, like usually, he and Miyaji headed towards the café on campus to grab a quick bite to eat before their next lectures.

"I met Ryou-chan's new assistant today – he was cute in that innocent sort of way," Takao said as they made their trek across campus.

Miyaji shook his head, "It seems like every week there's some new guy you're drooling over. And I don't think Kise would appreciate it if you hit on his assistant."

Miyaji knew all about how Takao lived with the famous model, Kise. He also knew all about Takao's preferences because he had been a victim of Takao's flirting. Ironically, it was how they met. Takao had made an effort to make friends quickly with him before putting on the moves. Of course, Miyaji shot him down rather harshly. Takao apologized about the whole thing, and although Miyaji was a little apprehensive at first, he still enjoyed having Takao as a friend – as long as he didn't try to pull anything with him.

"I just flirted with him a little. I don't think he even really noticed anyway. I can look all I want, right?" Takao elbowed Miyaji's arms.

"Yeah, but it doesn't take long for you to get to the 'touching' phase," Miyaji elbowed him back.

"Che, I'm just a romantic," Takao made a fake pout.

Miyaji rolled his eyes.

Takao glanced away from his friend who clearly was not on the same page as him when he spotted a familiar green head of hair.

"Oh!" Takao shouted and stopped in place.

"What?"

"That's him! The guy in my class that always brings strange things to school!" Takao pointed at the man who was heading in the opposite direction.

"And the guy who didn't want to have anything to do with you?" Miyaji added.

"Yeah, him. I wonder what he brought today," Takao tried to make out what was in the man's hands this time.

"Oh, I think I've seen that guy around. He's kind of strange – never says anything, keeps to himself, always bringing weird trinkets to school. Not entirely sure why you're so interested in him."

"All of that is what  _makes_  him interesting! Don't you want to know the 'why' to all of those things?" Takao asked excitedly.

"Um, not really. For all I know he could be one of those guys who tortures people in his creepy basement and films it all," Miyaji shrugged and continued walking.

"Eh? You really think he's one of those people!?" Takao asked with legitimate curiosity.

"I don't know! I was just making up an example, I don't know the guy. Why don't you ask him?"

"I don't know if he'll even let me talk to him," Takao groaned.

"Just try again, if he keeps ignoring you just give up," Miyaji huffed a bit in frustration, not understanding why his friend had such fascination with the weirdo.

"Hmm, maybe I will," Takao said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, you do that. I just know I need some more caffeine in me ASAP."

* * *

Kise could still feel his heart pounding in his chest as he walked out of the meeting room. It was difficult for him to stop himself from breaking out into a cold sweat as he sat in front of the producers of the drama he was going to be starring in. Who knew it was going to be this nerve-wracking? They seemed kind enough, but just the thought that Kise's life was going to change after being the main star in a drama that the entire country was going to watch was enough to nearly make him faint. He needed a drink or something, maybe if Takao wasn't busy tonight they could head out to their favorite bar.

"Here's your coffee, Kise-kun," Kise's heart nearly jumped out of his throat when his assistant suddenly appeared next to him holding a coffee cup in his hand.

"O-Oh, thanks, Kuroko," Kise placed a hand on his chest and grabbed for the coffee with the other.

"I didn't mean to startle you, I'm sorry about that," Kuroko apologized.

"No, it's alright, a lot is on my mind right now so I wasn't paying attention," Kise tried to give his best smile as he walked down the hall, Kuroko following beside him.

He headed towards the waiting room as his manager remained inside to talk through the technical details with the producers. Kise found a chair to sit in and enjoy his coffee that would hopefully calm his nerves, Kuroko sat beside him.

"You seem a little stressed, is there anything I can do for you?" Kuroko asked in a flat tone.

"No, this coffee is fine for now, thank you. Unless you have a big bottle of booze with you," Kise joked.

"I can go down the street and buy something," Kuroko made to look like he was standing up.

"No, no, no, I was joking!" Kise raised an arm out as if to prevent Kuroko from leaving.

"Are you sure?" Kuroko asked.

"Yes! I don't need to be drinking this early anyway," Kise felt a little guilty that his assistant seemed to take that request a little too seriously.

"I agree, but I was told to follow your every order so I would've gone out and got it anyway," Kurko settled back into his seat.

"Huh… Maybe that's why my last assistant was so agreeable…" Kise muttered to himself. "Maybe you should keep a better eye on me then. Sometimes I'd ask my last assistant to get me things or take me places and then Kasamatsu-san would yell at the both of us for doing something so stupid…"

Kuroko raised an eyebrow, "Like what?"

"Umm…" Kise scratched his head, "One time I realllllly wanted some corn from Hokkaido and she asked if I wanted her to take me there. I didn't have anything else planned for the rest of the day and she offered so I went along with it. So we got on a plane and arrived in Hokkaido. Not too long after that Kasamatsu-san called me up and asked where we were. I told him and he yelled at me and told me that I was supposed to have a dinner that night with some higher-ups and to 'get my ass back there now'… It totally slipped my mind… When we got back we both got an earful for a good hour… I had to convince him that it was all my idea and my assistant was just doing what I told her," Kise pouted as he stared down at his coffee.

Kuroko remained quiet for a moment before narrowing his eyes a bit and speaking up, "That is truly an idiotic thing to do," he said plainly.

"I know!" Kise groaned. "I should've never done it but I wanted that corn soooo bad."

Kuroko shook his head slightly.

"So you have to make sure I don't do anything stupid like that again, okay, Kuroko? I know you're just temporary, but I hate it when Kasamatsu-san yells at me," Kise stuck his bottom lip out a bit.

Kuroko let out a sigh, "I definitely won't allow you to do something that stupid again," he assured.

"Thanks," Kise smiled.

Kuroko was a bit of a strange individual at first, but Kise felt like he could trust him and so far he'd been doing a great job at being his assistant. It was a shame he probably wouldn't stick around for much longer, but he could enjoy his company while he could. And it wasn't like he would never see Kuroko again, they worked for the same company and maybe they'd end up being the kind of friends that'd meet up every once in a while for a drink.

It didn't take much longer for Kasamatsu to walk out into the waiting room and hurry Kise into the car so that they could go to the office and hash over the details. The filming would start soon – in only a week – so Kise had to review and memorize his lines for the first scene in a short amount of time.

"I'll help as much as I can," Kuroko suggested as he watched Kise groan after looking through the pages of his script in the car.

"Huh? Really?" Kise seemed legitimately surprised.

"If you would like me to, I wouldn't mind going over your lines with you at all," Kuroko nodded.

Kise's face broke out into a smile, "Really, Kuroko!? You're the best!"

Kuroko smiled slightly, "It's no problem."

* * *

Takao couldn't go five minutes without taking a glance at his classmate during the entire lecture. Of course he couldn't – his green-haired classmate seemed to have brought a giant pillow featuring a character from an anime popular with young girls. Whispers could be heard throughout the lecture hall as he walked in but he paid no mind to what his classmates were saying.

Takao just became antsy and eagerly waited for the professor to cease his droning and the class to be done with for the day so he could make attempt number two of striking up a conversation with his bizarre classmate. He usually wasn't a nosey guy but he just  _had_  to know what the deal was with this guy no matter what.

It felt like years had passed before the professor finally ended his lecture and Takao's eyes went straight back to his subject of interest. The young man neatly packed all of his things, threw his bag onto his shoulder, and hugged the pillow to his body before making his way out of the lecture hall. Takao messily gathered his things into his bag and proceeded to follow his target.

As he walked outside, it didn't take long to see that ridiculous pillow and green hair, and Takao made a beeline towards the man.

"So, do you like that anime?" Takao spoke up next to him.

The man seemed a bit startled but narrowed his eyes and pushed up his glasses as he saw who had just spoken to him. "No, I do not," he answered shortly.

 _'Well, at least that was a response,'_  Takao thought.

"Why are you carrying a pillow like that then?" Takao continued.

The man already seemed a bit agitated with Takao's presence, "Because it's my lucky item."

Takao nearly stopped walking beside him, "Lucky… item?"

"Yes, it is my lucky item for today. Cancers are 9th today so having my lucky item is essential. Otherwise something bad may have happened to me by now," he said matter-of-factly.

The cogs turned in Takao's head as he made a face twisted in confusion. It took a moment for the light bulb to go off in his head as he made a realization. "Oh! You mean that Oha Asa thing that they show in the morning?"

"Precisely," the other man said, pushing his glasses up again.

He probably shouldn't have, but it was inevitable. Takao let out a booming laugh, stopping in his tracks and doubled-over right in the middle of the walkway. The green-haired man stopped as well and looked on at him in anger.

"This isn't something to laugh at! Oha Asa is never wrong and your horoscope shouldn't be taken ightly," he said with a commanding voice.

"S-Sorry!" Takao managed to say in between laughs. He wiped a tear from his eye as he stood back up. "It's just that I've never met anyone who took that stuff so seriously. Plus it's been killing me as to why you bring all that weird stuff to school every day."

The man scowled, "I have no time to be associating myself with someone who doesn't understand these sorts of things." He made a sharp turn and walked away from Takao.

"Wait!" Takao realized that the man was serious and chased after him. He didn't bother to turn around or stop for Takao to catch up. "I'm sorry! It was just kind of funny… but I'd kind of like to still get to know you – maybe I'd understand better if you told me about it."

The man didn't say anything for a moment and kept walking. But as he noticed that Takao wasn't going anywhere soon, he spared him a glance. "You're a Scorpio if I remember correctly, yes?"

Takao smiled slightly over the fact that he might've broken through with the guy, "Yeah! You remembered!"

"Scorpios are 5th today. Not bad, but not good either. Come tomorrow with your lucky item and maybe I will take what you said seriously," he adjusted his hold on the pillow in his arms.

"Alright, I can do that!" Takao held up a thumbs-up.

"Until then, I'm done speaking with you," the man walked towards the direction of the library.

"Hey! I didn't get your name yet! My name is Takao Kazunari!" Takao shouted, a few people standing around looked over at him.

The man stopped and turned, fixing his glasses nervously, "Midorima Shintarou," he said before quickly turning around and walking off again.

Takao smiled to himself, content with how things worked out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would first like to thank everyone for being so patient with this update! As you may or may not know from my other in-progress story or twitter, writing my fics had to take a backseat for a bit so I could finish up my last semester of college, and right after that I had family coming into town so I had noooo time to update my stories. I still have some friends coming in but I managed to find some time to update both fics! Which makes me happy because I missed writing them during that time. ^^
> 
> Anyways! I really hope this new chapter has sated anyone anxious for an update. Hopefully the updates will come regularly now, especially since I really enjoy writing this story. You can now see the relationships starting to form and it will only get more interesting from here on out, hehe. Thanks soooo much for reading and all the positive comments! See you next time!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! I'm trying something new with the next couple chapters - they will mostly focus one one couple per chapter. So for example: this chapter focuses mainly on Midorima & Takao while the next chapter (ch. 5) will focus mainly on Kise and Kuroko. The chapters run parallel to each other, so you'll notice some things that Kise will mention that will be elaborated in the next chapter... It's probably easier if you just see for yourself. ^^;

"Eh? You're going to be working with THE Momoi Satsuki?" Takao asked with slight shock.

"Yep," Kise nodded and took a sip of his drink, "I couldn't believe it either. I'm not sure why they neglected to tell me the cast until the last minute – maybe because they thought it'd make me nervous? Because honestly, I'm having a hard time not pissing myself right here and now."

"That's not very idol-like, and I don't think your first impression with Momoi would go off very well with soiled pants," Takao joked to lighten up the mood.

Although appreciating his friend's effort to make him feel better, Kise sighed and looked out the window of the small, quiet café they occasionally ate breakfast at and sometimes the two often met up to eat at for lunch.

"Hey," Kise felt a hand clasp over his, "You'll be fine!" Takao squeezed his hand and gave him a reassuring smile. "The Ryou-chan I know can do anything he sets his mind to."

Kise's eyes wandered back to his friend, he smiled slightly, "Thanks, Kazucchi."

"Uhg, you two…" A voice sounded beside them as both of their eyes turned to the source.

"Hey, Rikocchi, did I tell you how lovely you look today?" Kise separated his hand from Takao's to run it through his hair with a model smile to the waitress.

"Barf…" The brown-haired waitress rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Riko-chan, can I have refill pleeease?" Takao looked up and batted his lashes.

Riko wrinkled her nose, "You two have no shame, constantly flirting in the shop like you're the only people in here," she said as she snatched up Takao's glass.

"How many times have we told you, Riko-chan? We aren't dating!" Takao said.

"Yeah! In fact, when is Rikocchi gonna go out with me?" Kise said with a wink.

Riko glared at Kise, "Not only do I know you're joking but I have no interest in dimwitted pretty-boys." She hmphed as she sharply turned around and walked away from the table; Kise groaned in defeat and rested his head on the table.

"There, there, Ryou-chan. You can't hook every girl into your charm," Takao laughed and patted Kise's head.

"I've actually long gotten over her… Now I'm just annoyed by the fact that she won't give me the time of day…" Kise mumbled.

Takao laughed again, "You know Riko-chan secretly adores both of us."

"But always bullies us…"

"That's because you need  _someone_  to keep the both of you in line," Riko returned and slammed Takao's glass on the table, causing it to slosh slightly over the side.

Riko came off as harsh, but in her deepest, darkest, core she was a very sweet person. She had gotten to know both Takao and Kise quiet well since her grandmother owned the café and she always worked the hours the two friends often came during. They warmed up to her right away despite the aloof attitude she often gave them. At first, she had secretly squealed in delight when she realized the Kise she served was THE model, Kise Ryouta, but that was before she realized how much of a buffoon he was.

"Thanks, Riko-chan~" Takao hummed and picked up his glass.

"Besides," Riko ignored the goofy faces Takao was making at her, "You need to start actually thinking about the people you go out with instead of just dating them on a whim – especially because of your fame. If I see one more magazine with the headline of you having a fling with some girl you aren't even going to see again, I swear…"

Kise could've sworn he almost saw a vein pop.

"I-I get it… I know I jump into relationships without much thought," Kise said with nervous laughter. "I promise I won't do that the next time."

"You better not," Riko hmphed again and turned her back, "You deserve better than that…" she said in a soft voice.

Kise perked a bit at her words but Riko had begun to walk off before it registered in his mind as to what she said.

* * *

Takao quickly gathered up his things after the lecture was over so he could catch up with the guy he finally knew the name of – Midorima. They hadn't spoken since their talk about a week ago as they only met up for the class they had together a couple times a week, so he wasn't entirely sure if this Midorima fellow was still on board for making acquaintances. Although he promised to meet up the next day with his lucky item the last time they talked, he figured this Midorima guy would be alright as long as Takao still showed that he was interested.

"Hey! Midorima Shintarou!" Takao shouted and trotted up beside his stoic classmate.

"You don't have to shout my name so loudly – I'm right here," he said with a slightly annoyed huff.

"Sorry, sorry. So are you going to tell me more about those lucky item things or what?" Takao asked eagerly, noticing a small hairclip clipped to Midorima's shirt.

"That depends – did you bring your lucky item today?" Midorima asked.

"Well, I did watch Oha Asa this morning," Takao began, "But it said my lucky item was a shopping cart! Like, how am I supposed to bring around a shopping cart with me!? So I figured since I was ranked 3rd today anyway I didn't really need to bother-"

"There is no use in taking such risks!" Midorima interrupted. "Just because you are 3rd doesn't mean you have the best luck today – something could still go wrong. If you are going to do this you must take Oha Asa seriously," Midorima fiddled with the glasses on his face in slight frustration.

"Yeah… I guess you're right," Takao scratched the back of his head. "But where the heck am I supposed to get a shopping cart? Even if I decided to push one around school all day… isn't it kind of illegal to just take one from a store?"

Midorima sighed and crossed his arms, "Sometimes you must think outside of the box in order to secure your luck." He turned and started walking off. "If you are actually serious about this, I'll show you a place where we can get what you need."

Takao's feet started moving to catch up with Midorima's long strides. "Sure! I'm on board!" He signaled with a thumbs up.

He wasn't entirely sure why he was going along with the almost bizarre whims of his spectacled classmate, but Takao was beyond interested in this guy's everyday life. Besides, he had a couple of hours to kill before his next class.

Midorima began walking towards the campus exit and Takao followed suite. They weren't heading towards the train station, so Takao could only wonder where Midorima was taking him… unless he asked.

"So… Where are we going?"

"The place where I can find most of my lucky items," Midorima said calmly.

He didn't seem like he was much of a talker, Takao thought. Actually, he didn't really seem socially capable in the first place. It sounded mean, but it was kind of true. Takao had never seen him have friends to speak of and he spoke very bluntly and harshly. His attitude was usually the type to turn people off in even trying to approach him, but it was going to take a lot more than that for Takao to leave him alone.

They walked along the street for a few minutes more, Takao taking an occasional glance at Midorima – he was quite handsome if you got a good look at him. He was clean-cut, prim and proper, and again Takao took notice of his eyelashes. He'd probably be a pretty popular guy if it wasn't for his attitude and his constant expression that seemed to ooze the aura of  _'don't talk to me'_. Speaking of which…

"Hey, why did you get up and leave me the first time I tried talking to you? You know, the time in the cafeteria," Takao tried to start up conversation once again.

Midorima's eyes looked off to the side a moment in thought. "Cancers were ranked quite low that day – 11th place. Oha Asa advised all Cancers to avoid associating with Scorpios that day if we were to even think about having a good day."

Takao let out a booming laugh which earned him a glare from Midorima.

"So THAT'S why you just up and left me! Wow, I thought I said something wrong or I smelled bad or something," Takao held his stomach to subside his laughter.

"I'm glad you think that's funny…" Midorima grumbled.

"Well, to me it's funny but I guess I understand your reasoning behind it. I'm sure if I was as serious about Oha Asa as you were I would've done the same thing," Takao made an attempt at reassurance.

"… Really?" Midorima paused for a moment before asking.

"Really!" Takao nodded his head vigorously.

Midorima just gave a 'hmph' and adjusted his glasses with one of his taped hands. Oh yeah, why did he tape his hands too? That can't have something to do with Oha Asa as well, can it?

"We're here," Midorima said before Takao could continue his questioning.

Takao looked at the store in front of him. It looked something like small hobby shop… no, a trinket shop? Whatever it was, there was tons of junk that could be seen from the windows – from figurines, to clothes, to cookware, to books, to everything else in between. Midorima proceeded to open the door and walk into the shop, Takao followed close behind.

The door opened with the sound of a small bell and the wooden floors creaked beneath them. An older woman sitting at the register looked up to see who had just walked in.

"Welcome, Midorima… Oh?" The woman cocked her head to the side slightly. "Is this… a friend of yours? I've never seen you bring anyone here." She looked a bit surprised.

"H-He's…" Midorima stuttered slightly, "A classmate. He's interested in buying something from your store…"

"Good afternoon, ma'am!" Takao said with a smile and a wave.

"Hello dear," the woman replied back kindly.

Midorima nodded to the woman and continued to walk down one of the aisles as Takao followed. The store seemed small but the shelves were crammed full of random knick-knacks. It was hard to say exactly what kind of store this was supposed to be.

"So… How am I supposed to find a shopping cart here?" Takao pondered as his eyes shifted from side to side, analyzing all the junk that was on the shelves.

"You will see. I believe I saw one here the other day, hopefully no one has bought it yet," Midorima thoroughly scanned the shelves as if this was something he had done a million times. Well, he probably had.

They reached the end of the aisle and turned the corner to continue on to the next. Midorima continued to search until Takao heard him let out a quiet  _'a-ha'_.

"Here it is," Midorima picked something up off the shelf and turned around to face Takao.

What he held in his hand was a miniature replica of an actual shopping cart, complete with wheels and a moving basket.

Takao's mouth dropped slightly in surprise, "I didn't even think something like that existed…"

"That's why you must think a bit more creatively when considering what to take as your lucky item for the day," Midorima clenched the tiny cart in his hand and walked towards the register.

"Oh, I'll get it!" Takao said as Midorima set down the cart and dug out his wallet.

"It's fine, consider this a lesson. Besides, it's only 50 yen," Midorima handed the coins to the woman at the register who smiled as she rang up the cart.

Midorima grabbed the cart again and held it out to Takao before walking out through the doors. He really did have a bad habit of just walking away without letting anyone know…

Takao quickly thanked the woman in the store, slid the tiny cart into his pocket and headed out the doors to catch up with Midorima. Maybe the guy wasn't so bad after all, just incredibly socially awkward. Takao could see himself possibly making friends with him instead of him just being a 'classmate'.

"Thanks a lot, Shin-chan!" Takao said cheerfully as he trotted up to Midorima.

Midorima stopped dead in his tracks, so quickly that Takao had continued walking a few steps before he noticed that his companion was no longer moving. He looked behind him to see Midorima with his brow furrowed.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Takao asked in confusion.

"D-Don't call me that…" He said quietly, his face turning a slight shade of pink.

"Huh? Shin-chan? That's your name, isn't it?"

"My name is Midorima Shintarou! Don't just go and give me a silly nickname like that!"

Takao let out a laugh even though he knew he probably shouldn't be laughing at the situation. "But it's a cute nickname, isn't it? I think Shin-chan suits you."

Midorima made a face that would probably be described as a mix of shock, disgust, and embarrassment. Again, probably something Takao shouldn't have been holding back a laugh from but he couldn't help it.

"I-I'm not cute!" Midorima said in a slightly angry tone and stormed off back in the direction towards the school.

Takao chased after him, "Your reactions are kind of cute," Takao teased. "Besides, there's nothing wrong with that name! I give nicknames to the people I like, so it's a good thing!"

Midorima just grumbled and picked up the pace of his walking. They got back to the campus faster than they got to the store thanks to Midorima nearly running back just to get away from Takao.

"Aww come on! I'm seriously glad you did this for me!" Takao felt like he was running out of breath when they reached the campus. "I promise I'll keep up with Oha Asa, Shin-chan!"

Midorima halted a second time, this time Takao took notice and stopped as well.

"Fine," Midorima said, his hand going straight to his glasses. "Just don't call me that stupid name when there's a bunch of people around… Now, I have another class soon that I must attend." And with that he continued walking off, leaving Takao standing in the middle of the walkway.

"Alright! See you in a couple days!" Takao waved, Midorima seemed to have chosen to ignore the send-off

Takao chuckled and slowly made his way over to the school cafeteria. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the miniature shopping cart. He looked it over, rolling the wheels over his hands and smiling at over why in the hell something like this even existed. He noticed a tiny sticker on the underside of the carriage and peeled it off – it read 80 yen.

"That liar…" Takao laughed to himself.

* * *

Kise and Takao often cooked at home for dinner. Neither of them were the best cooks in the world, so 'cooking' usually consisted of throwing a frozen pizza in the oven or ordering something out. Tonight wasn't usually Takao's turn to cook, but over the last few days Kise had been staying at work late in order to go over his lines. Today was a pretty eventful day as it was Kise's first day of shooting. He had been incredibly nervous that morning, but Takao's reassurance and the appearance of his quiet yet hard-working assistant helped ease his nerves (plus Takao got to see Kuroko again, looking cute as ever).

Takao figured he'd at least put a little effort in tonight's dinner considering it was somewhat of a celebration. Hell, it was his best friend's first day on his way to being a TV star! Takao really only knew how to make one thing though, and that was tempura. A pretty random dish to be an expert at, but he remember loving it so much as a child that he'd often beg his mom to make it and he ended up helping her on several occasions. It wasn't necessarily hard to make so it was something that Takao could make easily if he and Kise wanted an actual meal instead of convenience store food.

He took a few of the vegetables out of the fryer and set them out to cool. He heard the sound of his phone going off so he reached into his pockets to find it. Takao's hand brushed up against something that definitely wasn't his phone and pulled it out of his pocket – it was the miniature shopping cart. He chuckled to himself as he turned the little cart in his hands; he wondered if it had brought him any sort of luck that day.

He was skeptical, to say the least, about this whole horoscope thing. Honestly, he only went along with it because he figured that was the key thing to getting closer to Midorima. Takao couldn't remember the last time he pursued someone so determinedly that wasn't some guy he was interested in romantically… or at least getting into bed with for the night.

Takao placed the little cart on the counter and reached into his other pocket for his phone. Noticing it was a text from Kise, he quickly opened and read it:

'SO EXHAUSTED! I'll be home in a few minutes. My first day had a rocky start that didn't smooth out at all! (゜д ゜) You better have cooked something good…'

Takao smirked and began typing:

'Still, good job for getting through your first day! Don't worry, I've made tempura and you can tell me all about your day. Maybe I can help you relax tonight. （○゜ε＾○）'

Laughing to himself, he pressed send and added some shrimp into the fryer. It didn't take long for a reply:

'Kazucchi! Do you always think about sex!? o(-`д´- ｡)'

Takao stifled a laugh:

'I was talking about a massage! You pervert! (ò_ó )'

* * *

"What is that for?" Kise asked curiously as he eyed the shopping cart Takao had placed on their coffee table.

Kise sat on the floor of their living room, settled between Takao's knees as he sat on the couch. Takao rubbed and massaged Kise's stiff and aching shoulders after debriefing Takao about his rough day and the unexpected presence of a more than intimidating person who could probably even rival Kasamatsu.

"It's my lucky item!" Takao said matter-of-factly.

Kise turned his head around and raised an eyebrow.

"Remember that guy that wanted absolutely nothing to do with me but then I managed to get him to talk to me the other day?"

"Oh, yeah…" Kise made a face as if to tell Takao to please keep elaborating.

"Well, I talked with him again today. Apparently the items he totes around every day are his 'lucky items' so I decided I'd let him teach me about them starting today – and that's my lucky item for today: a shopping cart!" Takao said gleefully, moving his hands up to the back of Kise's neck.

"Lucky items… Like, on Oha Asa?" Kise asked.

"That's it," Takao nodded.

"Huh…" Kise's voice trailed off.

"He's a pretty strange guy but oddly enough it was pretty amusing hanging out with him today. We went to some strange store to buy that little shopping cart. Guess I'll keep watching Oha Asa in the morning then! Maybe I should start telling you your horoscope for the day too," Takao leaned over and wrapped his arms around Kise's shoulder.

"Yeah, thanks but no thanks. I don't really believe in that stuff," Kise slightly chuckled and patted his friend's arm.

"Me neither, but it's kinda fun," Takao shrugged his shoulders.

The two remained quiet for a moment as the TV droned on with whatever sketch show was on that night. Takao rested his head on Kise's shoulder as Kise leaned against the seat of the couch.

"So, how hot was that Momoi Satsuki?" Takao mumbled and broke the silence.

Kise let out a short sigh, "I told you I didn't really have much time to enjoy our first meeting because of… well, you know… the unexpected company that seemed to have tagged along," Kise grumbled.

"Yeah, but she must've looked really good anyway. She has a really nice rack – even I can admit that although I'm not much a fan of female anatomy," Takao teased.

Kise paused for a moment. "I guess that's true…" He said under his breath. Takao sat up and laughed.

"Did she get you kinda hot and bothered? Especially knowing some of the scenes you're going to have to eventually act out with her?" Takao wiggled his eyebrows. Kise shot him a glare.

"I'm a professional who knows how to separate my fantasies from my work," Kise crossed his arms with a nod.

"Yeah right, you're just as much as a pervert as I am," Takao lightly kicked Kise's side with his foot. "I might not have big boobs like her but I'll let you fuck me and call out her name when you cum. I'll even wear a wig," Takao covered his mouth with a stifled laugh.

"Shut up!" Kise stood up and tackled Takao on the couch who started his insatiable laughter.

Kise couldn't help but laugh a bit himself, mostly at the thought of Takao wearing a wig. He poked and prodded at Takao's sides that caused more laughter and struggling to break free from the tickle torture.

"Oh, Kise-kun! Don't handle a lady so roughly!" Takao said in a high pitched voice between laughs.

"Don't lie, you always like it when I'm a little rough," Kise played along with a smirk, pinning one of Takao's arms to the couch so he couldn't escape.

"You know me so well, Kise-kun! I love it when you hold me with your strong hands!" Takao continued in his exaggerated high-pitched voice.

Kise leaned in "I knew from the beginning you were that type of girl," he said with a smug tone.

"Hmm, I didn't know you were into this type of roleplay. Maybe I really should get a wig," Takao went back to his normal voice.

Kise sat back up and let go of Takao's arm. "Please don't," he said with a laugh.

Takao sat up as much as he could with Kise on his lap and smirked, "I don't think I could pretend to be a girl very well anyway. I could try to pretend to be your cute assistant though."

"Huh? Kurokocchi?" Kise's expression perked a bit.

Takao widened his eyes slightly, "You've already gotten a nickname for him? That's totally cute," Takao chuckled.

Both of them had a habit of assigning nicknames to the people they knew, but when it came to Kise he was a bit more selective. It was usually people he had known for a little while and at least considered a friend or someone he admired. He didn't dare give one to Kasamatsu because he'd probably get drop-kicked.

"Well, I've gotten along with him so far lately, especially since he's been so much help practicing my lines with me," Kise shrugged. "A-Anyway, don't pretend to be him! In fact, don't pretend to be anyone."

"Fiiiine, you're boring!"

Kise stood up off the couch after playfully ruffling Takao's hair. Takao got up and followed behind him.

"Hey, I'm getting ready for bed," Kise stopped by the entrance of his room and turned towards Takao.

"Yeah, me too," Takao stood, unmoving.

"Your room is across the hall! I'm exhausted, Kazucchi…" Kise groaned and pouted.

"Ah, sorry," Takao scratched the back of his head and laughed lightly.

Kise sighed and smiled at his friend, "Did you want to stay in here tonight or something?"

Takao shrugged, "I don't have to. I was just gonna… maybe help you fall asleep or something… since you worked so hard today," he lifted his eyes to Kise in a knowing way.

Kise stayed silent for a moment with his arms crossed, "Is that going to take much effort on my part?"

Takao reached out and placed a hand on Kise's waist, "Nah, I'll take care of everything," he gave a goofy smirk, unfitting for the conversation taking place.

It still gave Kise a small chuckle, "I'd be lying if I said that didn't sound kind of good right now."

He took hold of Takao's hand and led him into his room, shutting the door behind them.

* * *

_'Scorpios are number one today! This is your day to redeem yourselves, Scorpios! Today you will have luck with your friends and family, so try mending some open ends and you are sure to resolve some issues. If there is a new person in your life, today might be the day to move your relationship along further in a positive direction._

_Your lucky item for today is…'_

The words played out in Takao's mind as if he had memorized it word for word as he walked to his first class of the day – one of his most boring classes, but it might now become one of his most interesting. He purposefully made sure to get in a little later than usual as to get there after a certain someone who seemed to get there every day at the same time.

As he walked into the lecture hall, his eyes zeroed in on the seat he so often had scoped out. There he was – Midorima Shintarou, just getting finished taking out his pencil and notepad, neatly intertwining his taped fingers and setting them on the desk. Seats on either side of him were empty – it was Takao's chance.

He made his way over to the row of chairs, quietly sidling through the students already seated and getting ever so closer to the empty chair on the right side of Midorima. And there he was – standing right next to him in the lecture hall.

"Mind if I sit here?" Takao asked with a kind smile.

Midorima looked up in mild shock that seemed to subside only a moment later.

"I suppose not," he said quietly and went back to facing the front of the room.

Takao set his bag on the floor and took his seat.

"It's pretty close to the front up here," he commented.

"Yes, it is," Midorima said with blunt finality.

Takao nodded and twiddled his thumbs for a few seconds before leaning over and reaching into his bag and pulling out a magazine. He set the magazine down on the table and turned towards Midorima.

"Oha Asa said I was first today, but I brought my lucky item just in case – an idol magazine. You'd be surprised, but I have tone of these lying around." Because he just so happened to actually live with a model – thank goodness for Kise.

Midorima looked down at the magazine for a moment before looking back up, adjusting his glasses, and settling his eyes on Takao.

"Are you actually interested in this or are you just doing this to mock me?"

Takao's face dropped a bit. Mock him? Why would he ever do that? But Midorima's face showed nothing but seriousness in that question – had he been made fun of for this before? Takao felt a slight twinge of pain just thinking about it. Sure, Midorima was strange, but he wasn't a bad guy. His hobby wasn't something terrible; people did much worse things with their free time.

Takao recovered with a smile, "Oha Asa also said that I should take the opportunity to get to know a new acquaintance better. I may still be skeptical about all of this, but if that isn't a sign, then I don't know what is!" Takao's smile turned into a wider grin.

Midorima's eyebrows rose slightly and his face dusted with a tinge of pink. "Okay, I trust you then…" He said quietly and turned back to facing the front of the room.

Takao chuckled, "I'm glad I can get to know you better, Shin-chan!"

"D-Don't call me-!"

"Alright class, we'll be continuing from where we left off last time," the booming voice of the professor that neither of them noticed walking in sounded in the lecture hall.

Midorima flustered and chose to ignore Takao's stifled laughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully by the next chapter you'll see what I mean when I say this and the next will run parallel to each other. I figure I'd try this format at least once because I feel this way I will probably find it easier to write longer and more detailed scenarios about each couple and still get out chapters in reasonable time. Plus I think it'd be kind of interesting for you guys to try and figure out what's going to happen next chapter with the other couple with the hints that get dropped (: So let me know if you like this format better or the old one. Or if you just don't care!
> 
> Anyways, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if anyone wants to see the progress with KiKuro, be patient and you shall be rewarded! Because their chapter will be next, and then you'll get to see why Kise's day was so rough (poor thing).
> 
> It seems Kise and Takao are still big on their friend's with benefits relationship, oh dear, at least the two are on the right track... maybe...
> 
> Enough of that! Thank you so much for all the reviews and support and I will see you next time!


	5. Chapter 5

Kise never felt his jaw drop quite like how it did at that moment. He stared at his manager in disbelief – he misheard, right? Yeah, he definitely misheard…

"Kise? Are you there?" Kasamatsu snapped his fingers and waved a hand in front of Kise's face.

"Uh… Er, yeah… Momoi Satsuki, huh? That's… incredible," Kise let out a nervous laugh.

"It's amazing! You're going to be on a drama with one of Japan's most popular actresses right now! This company must've seen some potential in you; this is your chance to become the hottest star in all of Japan! Your face will be on billboards and television screens all over the country!" Kasamatsu said with enthusiasm.

"That sounds great!" Kise weakly smiled, trying to hide the fact that his stomach just started doing cartwheels.

Great, how was he going to look next to Japan's current sweetheart? He was just some model with no acting experience and a pretty face. That pretty face probably got him this gig in the first place but did they even care about the no experience part?

Kise was fighting to let out an audible groan as soon as the sound of a ring filled the room.

"Ah, I have to take this," Kasamatsu pulled his phone out of his pocket and swiftly left the room.

As soon as the door closed, Kise let out one of the biggest sighs he had ever made, resting his face in his hands.

"Kuroko!" His yell was muffled in his hands.

It didn't take long until a slight shuffle was heard coming from the small office at the other side of the room.

"Get me a latte…" Kise nearly whined.

"Here you go, Kise-kun," Kise lifted his face from his hands and looked up to see Kuroko holding out a coffee cup.

"Oh, you already had one?" Kise took it from his assistant's hands in mild surprise.

"I figured you'd be needing one right away today so I just came back from the coffee shop a few minutes ago. Kasamatsu-san told me there was something important to discuss with you before you started filming in a few days."

Kise couldn't help but feel the slightest bit of weight lift off his shoulders, "Thanks, Kuroko," He took a sip and sighed. "Maybe helping me with my lines today will help me wind down. Did Kasamatsu-san tell you what the news was?"

Kuroko walked over to the office area to retrieve the script that was lying on the desk. "Yes, I heard what the two of you were discussing when I came back from buying the coffee."

Kise didn't remember Kuroko coming back. At all. He took a large swig of his coffee and set it down on the table. "I can't believe my co-star is Momoi Satsuki. THE Momoi Satsuki!" Kise slapped his hands on his knees and slumped in his seat.

"She's very popular, isn't she? That should be good news," Kuroko sat down quietly on the couch next to Kise.

"Good? It's intimidating as hell!" Kise groaned.

"Well, I do wonder why they didn't bother to tell you the rest of the cast until now," Kuroko pondered.

"Right?!" Kise nodded vehemently. "But whatever… let's just go over this scene again, where the two meet… now I know I'm probably going to have the worst time with this part," Kise pouted.

"Sounds like a good idea," Kuroko nodded. "I'm sure you'll do fine."

Kise cleared his throat and took a deep breath. Although the drama was the exact thing that was causing his stress, going over his lines would probably be a good distractor.

"Ah! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to…" Kise started the first line of the scene.

"I-It's okay, I know you didn't do it on purpose," Kuroko read the next line. He even acted out the  _[attempts to wipe coffee off of dress]_  bit.

"Jeez, I really am sorry though!" Kise scratched his head. "Please, let me do something! I-I'll pay for the dry cleaning! I'll buy you some new clothes!" He said in a slightly exacerbated voice.

"No, no! I'm really okay!" Kuroko whispered  _[looks up and smiles]_. Kise always found it kind of funny that his assistant would read out certain parts, because he knew those were the parts Kuroko didn't particularly feel like acting out.

"I don't want to be pushy, but I really do feel bad. Let me at least walk you home so you can get changed?" Kise said with slight desperation.

"I… suppose that's alright," Kuroko said in a quiet voice.

Kise wasn't sure if Kuroko was doing it on purpose, but Kuroko always had a softer and slightly higher pitched voice whenever he acted lines out with him. Kuroko did seem to get into the role as much as he could, but maybe it was unconscious. Honestly, Kise thought it was kind of cute how much effort Kuroko put into playing the part.

"Alright let's continue this part where the scene cuts to them walking to her house…" Kise broke character for a moment, Kuroko nodded.

The drama was about a single guy, struggling to get by, who just had the worst day of his life. His electricity and water get shut off because he forgot to pay the bills, on the way to work his wallet gets stolen on the train, and he goes into work that day just to find out he's getting laid off. After his last day of work, all he wants to do is go get a coffee with what little money he has left and calm down a bit after the terrible day, and he goes and accidentally spills it all over a total stranger. Luckily, it wasn't hot coffee, but it's just one more bad thing to add to the list. But this incident ends up being a fateful encounter with the heroin of the story, who so happens to belong to a rich family. The two hit it off despite their meeting, but the guy is concerned about how he could even keep the attention of a young mistress when he himself is poor and now unemployed.

A typical story seen over and over, but it gets more interesting as their relationship progresses. Sudden plot twists and character developments prevent it from being just your typical romance drama. It was one of the reasons that Kise was so excited to have his first role in; he was enthralled when he read the script of the first season. So he wasn't going to let this surprise get in the way of messing this up.

"By the way, my name is Ryuzaki Ken… um, you don't have to tell me your name if you don't want-"

"Tachibana Mariko," Kuroko cut in with his line as the script indicated.

"Tachibana Mariko…" Kise whispered in a soft voice. Kuroko looked up at Kise as the script indicated. "Ah, it's just… your name is p-pretty…" Kise stuttered like the flustered character would.

Kuroko whispered  _[chuckles softly]_  before reading his lines, "Thank you, your name is nice as well."

"My name is nothing special," Kise said with a nervous laugh.

The script states the awkward atmosphere between the two.

Before Kise was about to move on to his next line the door to the room opened with a slight creak.

"Alright, that was just the production company on the phone," Kasamatsu pocketed his phone and looked at the two sitting on the couch. "Oh, practicing again? Great! But right now I need you to go over the final documents with me, alright Kise?" Kasamatsu ushered Kise over with a wave and made his way to his office.

"Ah, alright," Kise stood up from the couch, clenching his script in his hands. "Thanks Kuroko, can you help me later today maybe?"

"No problem," Kuroko nodded.

Kuroko was pretty much a godsend for this situation, Kise was relieved. But to really get some mental and emotional support, he figured it would be a good idea to meet up with Takao for lunch at their favorite café.

* * *

Kise let out an exacerbated sigh, rubbing the tiredness from his eyes. It wasn't very late, but he felt like he'd been awake forever. His nerves had calmed down throughout the day, but he couldn't help but have a tiny bit of uncertainty eating away at the back of his mind.

"I think we should end it for today," Kuroko said quietly, shutting the script he held in his hands.

"Yeah… you're probably right," Kise ran a hand through his hair and tossed his script off to the side.

"Don't worry about it, you'll do fine. Just take the couple days you have off before the filming starts to rest," Kuroko reassured.

Kise propped his elbow on the arm of the couch and looked over at Kuroko with a tired smile. "That doesn't sound like a bad idea. Guess my nerves are still getting to me a bit so maybe I'll just sleep straight through until the day of filming."

"Well, if you ever feel like you need to practice your lines with someone, feel free to call me."

"Nah, I've already made you stay past your hours, I didn't mean to keep you here this long," Kise apologized.

Kuroko shook his head, "It's not a big deal, I didn't have any plans today and it is my job after all."

"Yeah, but you don't have to go wasting your Friday night here with me," Kise slumped slightly on the couch.

"Well, maybe I just did it as a friend," Kuroko replied simply.

"Huh? You consider me a friend?" Kise perked up.

Kuroko shrugged, "If that's alright with you."

"O-Of course!" Kise spoke up.

He was surprisingly quite happy to hear that Kuroko thought of him as a friend. He had grown to be quite attached to his assistant. He rather enjoyed the time they spent together and he felt like he could trust Kuroko. Unlike his best friend, Kise had a difficult time making friends. Not because he couldn't, in high school he had a ton of friends. But he soon came to realize that many of these people just wanted to be close to him because he was a little famous. As his popularity grew, those kinds of people increased, and Kise soon realized that a majority of them weren't the real friends he thought they were.

Maybe that's why his relationships never lasted very long, and maybe that's why he sought out comfort in Takao so often. He knew Takao would still be there at the end of the day with his goofy smile and his crude jokes. Takao was comfortable, safe, his ever-present constant – but he knew he couldn't depend on Takao forever.

Since his modeling career started taking off, Kise had difficulties finding even just one person other than his best friends that didn't judge him based on his fame. But he never felt that way with Kuroko. He never felt that Kuroko let Kise's fame affect their relationship; he treated him like any other guy. Kuroko didn't cater to his whims, he didn't try and get on his good side – Kuroko was just himself, and that's what Kise liked the most about him. Hell, even Kasamatsu seemed to trust Kuroko with handling Kise – that was a feat in and of itself.

Kuroko smiled ever so slightly and stood up off the couch. "We should get ready to leave. I'll lock up everything and afterwards I can give you a ride."

"Oh, that's alright, you don't have to do that. Kazucchi works at a bookstore not too far from here and he's getting off of work soon. I think I'll just meet up with him and we'll go home together."

"Alright, I'll take care of everything here then. Goodnight."

Kuroko walked over to the office space to grab the keys. Kise stood up off the couch, gathered up his things and sauntered over to where Kuroko was, organizing the desk before locking up.

"Hey, thanks for everything, Kurokocchi."

Kuroko stopped what he was doing and looked up at Kise with a slightly perplexed expression. "…Kurokocchi?"

"Ah! Yeah… You don't mind if I call you that, right?" Kise gave a slightly nervous laugh. He actually hadn't intended to let the nickname he had given to his assistant a few days ago in his inner-musings slip out, but too late now.

Kuroko paused a bit and went back to tidying up the office. "It's a bit silly." Kise felt a bit of a stab to his heart. "But I guess if you like it I don't mind. You do something similar with Tako-kun's name, anyway."

"Yeah, and notice I don't do it with Kasamatsu-san's name," Kise laughed.

"That is probably in your best interest," Kuroko replied.

Kise let out another small laugh and lingered a bit near the office desk. "Well, I'll be going now. Are you sure you don't want me to stay and help or something?"

"No, I'm fine, you should go meet up with Takao-kun. I'm pretty much finished anyway."

Kise gave a nod and took a few steps towards the door. "Goodnight then, Kurokocchi."

"Goodnight."

* * *

Kise waited outside of the bookstore, luckily the weather hadn't quite turned cold yet so he didn't really mind waiting for a few minutes for Takao to close up the shop.

"Hey, sorry I made you wait, Ryou-chan!" Takao's voice sounded as he walked out the entrance to the store.

"It's no problem, I didn't have to wait long," Kise watched as Takao locked up the doors. He noticed a small bag in Takao's hands. "What's that? Did a new book you've been waiting for come out?"

"Oh this? Hehe…" Takao gave a mischievous smirk before reaching into the bag. He pulled out what seemed to be a manga and held the cover out in front of him to show Kise. "We just got a shipment of this manga in today."

"Huh? What's that?" Kise looked a bit closer. Two half-naked men were posed in a sensual embrace. "Ehh… Isn't that one of those gay manga?"

"Yeah! Dude, doesn't the cover totally look like us?" Takao pointed to the dark haired one, "That's totally me!" Then pointed to the blond, "And this one's you! They look just like us, don't they?"

Kise stifled a laugh. "Actually, they kinda do." They began walking towards the train station.

"I'm not really into these kinds of manga but I had to check this one out, it looks kinda hot too," Takao gave a playful laugh as he opened up the book to start reading the first page.

"And you're just going to start reading it out in the open like that?" Kise shook his head.

"Eh I don't care," Takao shrugged.

The rest of their walk to the train station was Takao 'oohing' and 'ohhing' over the manga as Kise became slightly embarrassed over his friend's lack of shame.

"Oh! The dark haired one is the top!" Takao said in an excited whisper, leaning in closer to show Kise the page he was on while they sat in the (thankfully) nearly empty train cart.

Kise glanced over at the page to see a surprisingly graphic illustration of two men in the throes of passion. "O-oh…" He didn't really know what else to say.

"Man, this is kind of hot. I can see why girls read this stuff all the time," Takao huffed and went back to burying his face in the manga. "Hey, Ryou-chan, why don't you let me top you anymore?"

Kise nearly choked on the air he was breathing and began coughing. Takao laughed at his reaction. It was true that when they were in high school the two of them tended to be fifty-fifty with their 'positions', but as they grew older they kind of naturally just ended up the way they were now.

"Don't you like being on the bottom more?" Kise whispered.

Takao raised his head in thought. "Hmm… I guess you're right. That's probably why." He went back to looking at the manga and turned the page. "But looking at this makes me kinda want to do you, ya know?"

Kise gave a judgemental stare in Takao's direction. "Let's just talk about this later…" He said. He already had to deal with Takao reading a dirty manga in public.

"Hm, okay," Takao said nonchalantly and turned the page again. "I just wanted to mess with you anyway."

Takao chuckled slightly before Kise gave him a sharp jab in the ribs.

* * *

Kise decided that instead of torturing Takao by reading his lines aloud over and over, it probably was best to just go in to the office and practice even if he had the next few days off. The office had a nice, quiet space for the employees to relax so it was actually ideal for him. At first, he struggled with the idea of whether or not to call up Kuroko and ask him to come help, but he really didn't want to do that to his assistant… He was a temp so he probably wasn't getting paid enough to baby Kise. But to Kise's surprise, Kuroko was at the office when he arrived there. Apparently Kuroko helps out with Kasamatsu as an intern whenever he isn't kept busy with Kise. Kasamatsu _did_  have other models working at the company so he didn't necessarily have days off when Kise did.

Kuroko pretty much volunteered himself to help out with Kise's lines. Kasamatsu had no problem with it and Kise was secretly grateful.

Although the filming was soon and Kise was feeling the stress, the days were… surprisingly fun. Kuroko was still kind of a mystery, but Kise was glad to have his company. He truly felt like Kuroko was his friend because of how sincere he was when he practiced with Kise.

They went out for drinks, ordered take-out… For the first time in a while, Kise felt like he had found a friend other than Takao – and it felt good.

The time he spent with Kuroko was just the right amount of practice that he needed, and now it was the long awaited day as he sat in the car on the way to the film studio. Takao even gave him a… unique send-off. Although Takao tackling him into a bear hug and giving him a huge, wet, kiss on the cheek before he left was slightly embarrassing as it all happened in front of his manager, it was a strangely comforting way to know he had Takao's full support.

"We're here," Kasamatsu's voice snapped Kise out of his thoughts.

The car was stopped in a rather large parking lot beside an even larger building.

"R-Right," Kise nodded nervously. He took a deep breath and felt a hand on his shoulder.

"You'll do fine," Kuroko was sitting next to him the entire ride to the studio, but they hadn't said a word to each other since Kise got in the car.

Kise looked at Kuroko wordlessly for a few moments before slowly nodding his head. "Yeah… I can do it." He attempted a weak smile.

"Come on! We have to go meet with everyone," Kasamatsu said in an energetic voice.

Kise had prepared a lot, Kuroko and his manager had helped him more than he could've imagined. And of course Takao was his strongest support. He could do this.

The three stepped out of the car and made their way into the large building. Kise began to notice that there wasn't just one, but several buildings on the property. Kasamatsu seemed to have handled getting through security and such until they were finally in what looked like a large studio. It was overwhelming how huge it was and how many gadgets, props, and hardware were all over the room. It was obvious from the group of people already gathered at the far side of the room that that was where the rest of the cast were getting ready for the first day of filming.

This was it.

"Ah! Kise! I'm excited to finally have everyone here together!" A serious but handsome looking man noticed them come in and walked over.

Kise had met this man a few times before – the director of the drama and the one who contacted his company in order to ask Kise for one of the main roles.

Kise bowed deeply, "I am very honored to have been chosen for this role, Director Harasawa!"

"Ah please, I'm the one who needed you! So no need to be so formal," Harasawa gave Kise's shoulder a strong pat.

Harasawa was a rather well-known television director. His televisions series were often highly rated and have won many awards. He was a hard-worker and always looked rather professional, and he was considered somewhat of a prodigy since he was younger than most of the people in his profession.

"We are still very grateful for the opportunity," Kasamatsu was next to bow.

"You're very welcome."

"I will try to be as much help as I can."

Harasawa jumped slightly and looked around in confusion. "Who was that? Is there another person with you?"

"Oh! My assistant, Kurokocchi!" Kise gestured next to him.

"Well! I didn't notice you at all, kid!" Harasawa looked next to Kise in mild surprise.

"My name is Kuroko Tetsuya. It's not a problem at all. I will do my best to aid Kise-kun in any way possible."

"Good, good!" Harasawa turned on his heel, "Anyway, I think you know the cast you will be working with, but this will be your first time meeting them, right, Kise?"

"Yes sir," Kise tried his hardest not to stutter.

Kise followed Harasawa while Kasamatsu and Kuroko went off by themselves. Kise was introduced to the staff and cast, meeting many actors playing minor characters as well as the side-characters that would be sticking around for the long-run.

"This is the guy who is going to be playing your 'best friend', Moriyama Yoshitaka," Harasawa gestured to a rather handsome and clean-cut looking man about Kise's age.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Moriyama held out his hand.

"Same here," Kise grabbed his hand and shook.

Kise recognized his name when he looked over the cast list, but he couldn't quite remember where. He came to find out that Moriyama had worked on a few dramas already, although never having a main role. Kise hoped that he didn't rub Moriyama the wrong way before they even met because a newbie like himself got such a role with no effort at all.

"It looks like Momoi hasn't arrived yet so why don't you get yourself a little acquainted with Moriyama here?" Harasawa gave Kise a strong pat on the back before walking off to leave the two alone.

"So," Kise couldn't stand awkward silence and would rather have awkward conversation. "How did you end up working on this show?"

"I've worked with Director Harasawa before. He saw potential in me and wanted to give me a bigger role. Although, I guess he didn't think I was quite ready for a lead part yet."

 _'Shit,'_  Kise thought  _'This guy definitely already has a grudge against me.'_

"But I suppose that's fine as long as I get to work alongside the lovely Momoi Satsuki," Moriyama said with a determinedly straight face.

"Yeah… She's a pretty great actress, isn't she?" Kise commented.

"Not only that, but her beauty surpasses anyone else in this world!" Moriyama pointed a finger up to the ceiling.

"Err…" Kise could only nod.

"You!" Moriyama pointed his finger towards Kise who jumped back slightly. "You're a model. You must have beautiful girls literally flinging themselves on you! In fact, I know they do! I have seen those gossip magazines with all the women you have been with! You are truly the envy of man…"

"Uhh, you know those magazines exaggerate everything," Kise said with a nervous laugh, even though those magazines, unfortunately, weren't very far off from the truth.

Moriyama took his finger out of Kise's face and crossed his arms. "I will forgive you. On one condition."

"Huh…" Was there really anything to be forgiven for?

"You have to introduce me to some of those girls!" Moriyama said with resolution. "You cannot possibly need all of them."

Kise couldn't believe this guy he just met had such an… interesting personality. He was left baffled by the man's sudden request.

"Um, I'll try… I guess? But didn't you just say that Momoi-san was the best?" Kise scratched the back of his head.

"I cannot possibly even fathom courting Momoi Satsuki if I cannot pass your level of appeal, unfortunately," Moriyama sighed.

Kise held back a groan. Was this guy delusional? "Fine. I'll, uh, show you how I do it."

"Great! I think we will be fantastic partners," Moriyama gave him a thumbs up.

"Yeah…!" Kise said with an uncertain laugh.

Honestly, there was no certain method, girls just came to him. He didn't want to toot his own horn but it was the truth. There was no trick. It wasn't like he had a stockpile of women waiting for him at home, so he wasn't sure how he was going to handle this Moriyama fellow who was now his co-worker.

"Oh, there she is!" Kise heard someone whisper.

He turned his head in the direction a few people seemed to be looking. And there she was – Momoi Satsuki, with what seemed like an entire entourage.

Sometimes, people look better on TV and pictures. A little trick of the lens, a bit of photoshop here and there and viola – you have a perfect looking actor. But even at this distance Kise knew that Momoi was just as beautiful as she was on camera.

She laughed and smiled as she talked with the director, pushing a few strands of her pink hair behind her ear.

"Ah, she truly is a thing of beauty," Kise heard Moriyama say next to him.

"Kise, come here!" The director turned around and waved Kise over to where they were.

Kise took a big gulp and made steady steps towards his famous actress of a co-star. She gave him a kind smile as he approached and he, nervously, did likewise.

"Momoi, this is your co-star, Kise Ryouta," Harasawa motioned with his hand.

"It's an honor to meet you!" Kise bowed and he could here Momoi chuckle slightly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well! I'm actually quite a big fan of yours," she said in a soft voice.

"Huh? Really?" Kise asked in mild surprise.

"Yes! I actually have one of your posters in my room," she blushed slightly.

But not as much as Kise knew he was as his entire face felt like it went from lukewarm to boiling in a matter of milliseconds.

"And I'm her manager," an icy cold voice cooled Kise right away as he saw a man step slightly in front of her. "Imayoshi Shouichi," he held out his hand for Kise to shake.

Kise grabbed his hand nervously, "It's nice to meet you," he bowed slightly.

This Imayoshi guy was intimidating. He looked like he knew every little thing about Kise with just a glance. His face reminded Kise of a fox's so maybe that's why he seemed so… cunning.

"I'm Kise's manager, Kasamatsu Yukio. I look forward to working together," the voice of his manager sounded beside Kise.

"As do I," Imayoshi and Kasamatsu exchanged business cards and bowed to each other.

"Anyway, I think you two should get acquainted with each other. You two won't be shooting any scenes together today, but starting tomorrow you'll be seeing a lot of each other," Harasawa looked between Kise and Momoi. "But that might have to wait until lunch break since we'll probably start filming soon. We'll be shooting a lot of your scenes today, Kise," the manager gave a thumbs up and walked away towards the camera crew who seemed to be finishing up their set-up.

Kise looked over at Momoi with a nervous smile. His heart was still pounding a bit from his earlier exchange with Momoi. He glanced over at his manager who seemed to be talking with Momoi's, so there was no one else to depend on in this situation. It made him slightly nervous to be alone with the actress. Where was Kuroko?

"I'm so excited to be working with you," Momoi said, probably trying to keep it from getting awkward. "I'm kind of star-struck to be honest!"

"You're star-struck? I'm the one who can't believe he's working with Momoi Satsuki! Not only that, I'm beyond flattered that you're a fan," Kise laughed lightly.

Momoi smiled, "You are quite popular! Anyway, I really like the story of this drama, so I hope it goes well for the both us."

"Me too," Kise was starting to feel a little better, not only was she pretty, but she seemed like a kind person as well.

"Hey! Satsuki! What are you doing all alone with this guy? Your manager told me he'd be keeping an eye on you!"

A loud, gruff voice sounded not too far from where the two stood. Kise looked to see a tall, dark-skinned, and incredibly intimidating looking man approaching them. He was intimidating in a different way than Imayoshi, who looked cunning. No, this guy was different – he looked like he wouldn't even think twice about knocking Kise out if he got on his bad side.

"Dai-chan! Why are you here!? I told you not to come! Plus we aren't alone; we're just having a talk!" Momoi raised her voice and slightly furrowed her brow.

"Tsk, whatever, I told you I don't trust this guy. I don't even know why you had to do this stupid drama in the first place," the man stopped in front of them, eyeing Kise in a way that made it obvious that he didn't like the blond.

"Kise-kun is a gentleman, unlike you! I'm going to get Imayoshi-san to remove you because I know you're going to be causing trouble!" She crossed her arms and glared at the man.

Who was this guy? Kise was speechless. He was just having a nice conversation until this… scary man walked up to them. Even if he was intimidating, Momoi didn't seem to have any problem with dealing with him. Was he her… boyfriend?

"I'm not causing trouble! I'm here to make sure  _that_  guy," he jutted a thumb in Kise's direction, "doesn't cause trouble."

Momoi hmphed and before Kise knew it, she wrapped an arm around Kise's, eliciting a rather terrifying reaction from the man that made Kise want to scamper away. "Don't even try it because Kise-kun and I are already friends! Isn't that right?" Momoi turned her head and Kise felt like the color drained from his face.

The man glared daggers into Kise.

"W-We're just friends! Really! I-I don't have any intentions of having nothing but a professional relationship with her!" Kise tried to gently get Momoi to let go of her grip on him but she wasn't budging.

The man didn't move or speak for a moment, "You better keep it that way, or else you'll be sorry," he said in low growl, getting closer to Kise.

Momoi's face grew angrier. She reached out a hand and, as if it all happened in slow motion, slapped the guy in the face. Just slapped him, right in the face. This small, delicate looking woman just slapped this scary bastard in the face.

"Oww! What the hell, Satsuki!" He grabbed the side of his face where he was hit and growled at her.

"You're being too mean! I won't allow you to come here ever again if you keep that up!" Momoi put her hands on her hips and scowled at him.

"That doesn't mean you have to slap me! Jeez, fine!" He rubbed his face and seemed to be pouting a bit.

Huh? That's it? That's all it took to get this guy to back down?

"Imayoshi-san! Can you please get this pain out of here?" Momoi shouted.

Imayoshi came over right away at her request. "Come on, Aomine, we shouldn't bother them while they're working. Filming will be starting any minute now." He grabbed the man named Aomine's arm in a tight grip.

"Alright, I get it," he grumbled and allowed himself to get pulled away. "Watch your back, you hear me, model boy? Ow!" Aomine was jerked by Imayoshi who still held a tight grip on him.

Momoi turned back around, letting out a long sigh. "I'm really sorry about that, I kept telling him to not come, but of course, he did anyway… I bet it was all Imayoshi-san too, he likes having him around for extra security, but sometimes it's too much." She shook her head.

"Its… fine," Kise waved his hand from side to side. "Um, was that uh… your boyfriend?"

"Boyfriend? Oh goodness, no!" Momoi laughed a bit "His name is Aomine Daiki, he's my cousin. We grew up living next door to each other so he's a lot like a brother to me. We're very close, but that also means he's very overprotective…" She sighed.

"Oh, so you don't have a boyfriend?" Kise asked.

Momoi blushed slightly, "No… I don't. Imayoshi-san encourages me not to date very often to keep up my image… and you've already seen how Dai-chan acts…"

"Oh… that's no fun. That guy is too overbearing," Kise said, which he wasn't sure if he should've.

"Um, I'm fine not dating! There isn't really anyone I like. At least, not at the moment," she smiled slightly.

Kise felt his chest flutter a bit.

"Alright! It's time to start! We need all the actors to gather over here, please!" The director shouted through a megaphone, causing everyone in the room to turn their heads.

"We should get going!" Momoi grabbed Kise's arm and led him over to where everyone was gathering.

That incident shook him a bit, but Kise wasn't going to let that get to him for his acting debut.

* * *

It was a rocky start. Kise kept forgetting his lines for the first scene, but once he got a hang of it and the staff showed that they were willing to be a bit patient considering it was his first time, the rest of it went relatively smoothly. But this was only part of the day and now the whole crew was on a lunch break. The whole place had catering, but Kise really wanted his coffee. Right when they called for break, he looked around for his assistant, but he came to find out that Kuroko was already one step ahead of him. Of course he was. Kuroko often had Kise's favorite drink ready and waiting for him when he needed it.

"He'll probably be back soon, so go ahead and get something to eat. Good work so far today," Kasamatsu said. It was strange that he was being unusually nice. Probably because he noticed his nerves earlier.

Kise headed over to the table with all the food laid out and grabbed some for himself. Oddly enough, it felt like he was back in high school as he looked out at all the staff sitting at tables, eating and chatting away. As soon as he wondered where in the world he would be sitting, he felt a hand on his arm.

"You're doing such a good job today, Kise-kun! Let's eat together!" Momoi with her kind smile was standing next to him.

"Ah, alright," Kise felt better having someone else with him.

Honestly, he couldn't wait to start filming scenes together with her.

The two found an empty table to sit at; it seemed peaceful to just sit with Momoi. If only the peacefulness could've lasted longer…

A large body sat down at the table almost right after them, dropping two plates of food in front of him.

"Dai-chan, go sit with Imayoshi-san! Don't bother us!" Momoi complained, nudging him on the arm.

"I told you I don't trust this guy," Aomine grumbled as he shoveled food into his mouth.

"Honestly, are you a child? What don't you trust about Kise-kun? Do you think he's going to take my food or something?" Momoi said in agitation.

Aomine swallowed his food and looked at Kise with a serious expression. "Look, you. I've seen those magazines you're always on the cover of. I've also seen those gossip magazines. Yeah, those ones with you coming out of hotels with random women. Let me tell this to you, right here, right now – you aren't going to be doing any of that with Satuski, you hear me?"

Kise swallowed the large lump in his throat. This guy just wouldn't quit, would he?

"I-I don't know what image you have of me, but I'm not a bad guy… And I would never put Momoi-san in such a position," Kise looked over at her who was blushing slightly.

"Hmph," Aomine took another bite of his food, "Yeah, you better not."

"Dai-chan, you're being embarrassing…" Momoi said in less chipper voice, her eyes watered slightly.

"Eh? Satsuki, you don't have to get upset, I'm not mad at you or anything," Aomine's scowl faded from his face.

"But you always do this," she said quietly.

"I- Satsuki…"

"Kise-kun, here's your latte, sorry for the wait," as soon as Kise felt the atmosphere getting more and more awkward, it was like an angel had swooped down and saved the situation.

"Kurokocchi! Thank you," he didn't even see him coming, but Kise was a bit used to it now – and very grateful that he was here at this moment.

"Oh, I didn't see you there…" Momoi straightened herself up.

"This is my assistant, Kurokocchi," Kise motioned with his hand.

"Just Kuroko is fine. It's a pleasure to meet you, Momoi-san," Kuroko said.

"Same here!" Momoi went back to her cheerful demeanor.

"Hmm…" Aomine hadn't said anything since Kuroko had arrived but looked at him quizzically.

Kuroko looked over at Aomine and made a face of mild surprise. "Oh, aren't you Aomine-kun?"

"Oh, so that is you. Strange meeting you here," Aomine replied.

"Huh!? Kurokocchi, you know him?" Kise asked in shock.

"Well, I have met him briefly on a couple occasions," Kuroko nodded. "My best friend is also friends with him."

"Woah, really?" Kise asked in surprise. Who knew that the best friend Kuroko occasionally brought up was friends with this oaf?

"How is Kagami? I haven't talked to him lately," Aomine asked Kuroko.

"He's doing fine, the usual. Did you two get in a fight again or something?" Kuroko replied.

"Er… Maybe…" Aomine grumbled.

"I figured since he complained about you the other day," Kuroko said.

"Huh? What'd he say?"

"That you were a stupid bastard."

Kise let out a laugh and quickly covered his mouth. Momoi even chuckled a bit.

"Oh yeah? Well tell him it takes one to know one!" Aomine growled back and went back to eating his food. Angrily.

"Anyway, Kise-kun, I have to deliver this coffee to Kasamatsu-san," he held up a tray with two coffee cups still sitting in it. Kuroko grabbed one of the coffees and held it out to Momoi. "I'm not sure if you'll like it, but please have this one."

Momoi's eyes widened slightly as she took the cup from Kuroko in a daze. "Thank you…" She said as her cheeks slightly flushed.

"See you later, good luck with the rest of today's filming," Kuroko excused himself and walked away from the table.

"It's good…" Kise heard Momoi say quietly.

"Oh, do you like it? I always have to get this coffee, so Kurokocchi is really good at knowing whats the best to order. If you'd like, I can ask him to keep bringing you coffee every day too," Kise offered.

"N-No! You don't have to!" Momoi's face reddened even more. Kise thought it was kind of cute.

"Well, the offer will always stand if you ever feel the need," he smiled.

"Alright…" She took another sip.

Aomine still seemed to be brooding in his anger.

* * *

The rest of the day consisted of Kise and Momoi shooting their separate scenes on set. He actually got to work a lot with Moriyama that day as there were a couple scenes where the main character has a talk with his friend about the girl he met by chance. Occasionally, Kise got to watch some of Momoi's filming. She was great at what she did. She didn't need nearly as many takes as Kise did and he felt a bit more motivated seeing her work so hard.

But Kise couldn't quite enjoy watching her work to the fullest… as a certain someone seemed to be glaring at him the entire time. Aomine laid off a bit since their lunch break, but it obviously didn't decrease how much of a watchful eye he was giving him.

Okay, maybe Kise did feel a little attracted to Momoi, but that was no reason to be hounded by her cousin! He may have had more than his fair share of partners, but it wasn't like he was going to jump her at any opportune moment. Honestly, he would rather  _not_  have a relationship with her that made her feel uncomfortable.

Kuroko was… great, though. After every scene Kise finished that day, Kuroko was the first one there with a bottle of water, telling Kise that he did a great job. It made Kise feel really good to have a friend there with him amongst all of these people who already knew what they were doing. Kuroko made him feel a lot less lonely.

Finally, it was the end of the day. They wrapped up the last scene and everyone broke out in applause as the final cut was taken.

"Good job today, everyone! I think that was a successful first day. Remember that we're going to be shooting on location tomorrow, make sure to get lots of rest!" Harasawa concluded and everyone dispersed to get ready to leave.

Kise let out a long sigh as he walked over to his manager.

"Great job today!" Kasamatsu gave Kise a hearty pat on the back. "This is only the beginning so don't get too comfortable."

Kise gave a tired nod. He would definitely be falling right asleep tonight. Only after eating Takao's food, though. He hoped he was making tempura…

The three made their trek to the car and Kise felt a rush of relief as he got in. He pulled his phone out and began texting Takao. He let out a snicker after exchanging a few back and forth.

"Are you talking with Takao-kun?" Kuroko asked.

"Yeah, he's making tempura, I can't wait," Kise said with a yawn and slumped in his seat. He realized just how tired he actually was.

"That's nice of him, is he good at making it?"

"Takao's tempura is the best," Kise smiled weakly. "You want to come over for dinner? I'm sure we'd have enough."

"No, that's fine. Honestly, you should go straight to bed after you eat so I don't want to impose," Kuroko said.

"Hmm, okay…" Kise said lazily, leaning in Kuroko's direction. "You can come over the next time Takao makes tempura then."

"Alright, thank you," Kuroko looked over at Kise who looked like he was about to fall asleep.

Kise's breathing began to start sounding long and steady. Kuroko was about to look and check of Kise was asleep until he felt something press against his shoulder. He felt soft hair rub against his cheek and the sounds of Kise's breathing right by his ear. Kuroko didn't really mind, Kise had worked hard that day and probably was even more tired due to his nervousness. He was going to let Kise be until he stirred from his sleep a few moments later.

"Ah, s-sorry, Kurokocchi, I didn't mean to fall asleep on you. You should've woken me up," Kise gave a tired laugh and sat up.

"I don't really mind. If you need my shoulder to sleep on, it's fine," Kuroko said with a straight face.

"No, no, I don't want to trouble you with that," Kise shook his head. "I'll just sleep against the window…"

"Alright, have a good sleep."

Kise leaned up against the window and let out a short yawn,  _'Saying something like that is too bold, Kurokocchi!'_  he said to himself. He felt his face heat up slightly.

* * *

Takao was definitely a comfort. He was a best friend, but he was also someone that let Kise have a deeper level of pleasure that friends usually did not have together. Some might criticize what the two had together, but they knew their limits, and they also knew what their friendship was really based on. It wasn't so bad to indulge in each other's bodies once in a while… right? Neither of them were going to get pregnant, they were always safe, they knew how to make each other feel good, and they knew one wasn't going to end up harboring one-sided feelings for the other. Honestly, it was perfect… If they weren't seeking the connection that only lovers could have.

But damn Takao and his amazing blowjobs. Kise was always a fool to them and wouldn't pass them up even if he should probably be getting some sleep.

Kise's breath hitched in his throat as he bordered on the feeling of ecstasy from his lower regions and the passing out from exhaustion.

"Nn!" His hips unconsciously thrusted forward as he felt his climax come. Takao didn't move from where he was as Kise released into his mouth.

Kise let out long sighs as he came down, taking deep breaths and feeling his adrenaline fade. He heard Takao swallow and Kise mumbled something about how he couldn't believe he could do that every time.

Takao let out a weak laugh, pulling Kise's pants back up and flopping down on the bed next to him.

"You're probably going to fall asleep any second now, huh?" Takao said.

"Mm…" Kise groaned and closed his eyes.

"Guess I'll leave you to your sleep then," Takao made to get up until Kise grabbed him by his shirt.

"Sleep here tonight…" Kise mumbled.

"Huh, really?" Takao asked in mild surprise.

Kise nodded into his pillow.

"Haha, alright, but let me go brush my teeth first at least. I might be okay with swallowing your jizz but it's not like I savor the flavor," Takao joked and stood up from the bed.

Kise probably would've come up with a retort to that if he wasn't already halfway to falling into a deep sleep.

* * *

"So, if that Aomine guy is hot maybe you can give me his number," Takao nudged Kise and raised his eyebrows.

"Uh, not only am I pretty sure he's straight as a board, he has that sister- or, cousin-complex, whatever it's called. Plus he's just overall unlikable…" Kise shook his head and grabbed his jacket.

"Ryou-chan… you're acting like I haven't slept with douchey straight guys before. I can probably work my magic somehow," Takao laughed.

Kise gave his friend a slightly concerned look, "Please don't even think about going after that guy…"

Takao laughed again. There was a knock on the door.

"Ah, he's here," Kise said and went to go greet whoever it was.

"Good morning, Kise-kun," Kuroko stood at the entrance and greeted.

"Hey Kurokocchi," Kise said with a smile. "I just have to put my shoes on and we can go."

"Oh! Kuroko-chan!" Takao hummed and walked over to the door.

"Hello, Takao-kun," Kuroko turned to Takao.

"You're looking nice today. Hey, instead of that grumpy guy's number let me get Kuroko-chan's number instead!" Takao said excitedly.

"No wa-"

"Sure, I don't mind," Kuroko pulled his phone out from his pocket.

"Yay!" Takao said gleefully.

"H-Hey…" Kise stood up from putting his shoes on, but it seemed like the two were already in the process of exchanging phone numbers.

"Well, just don't annoy Kurokocchi, okay? And tell me if Kazucchi is bothering you!" Kise huffed.

"Eh, I wouldn't bother Kuroko-chan!" Takao puffed out his cheeks.

"I agree, I think Takao-kun won't be a bother."

"Alright, alright, let's just get going," Kise gathered his things and walked out the door.

"Bye, honey! Bring home the bacon for us!" Takao waved.

Kise shut the door with a sigh.

"Takao-kun is quiet an amusing person, isn't he?" Kuroko commented.

"Yeah… he's pretty eccentric," Kise replied.

He wasn't sure why, but he was a little irked over the fact that the two exchanged phone numbers. But Takao was his best friend so he was sure that he wouldn't cause any actual trouble. Kise knew he didn't have to worry.

Maybe he would get Aomine's number for Takao anyway, and tell Aomine that it was actually a cute girl's number just to spite him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ended up being longer than I anticipated, but I think Kise & Kuroko's side of the story needed more anyway. I tried to introduce even more characters form Kurobas in this as well, if you couldn't tell, hehe. I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> Anyway, let me know if you like the story done this way, where one chapter is focused mostly on one couple, or if you like it better when one chapter goes back and forth between the couples. I could probably do a mix of both but I would like to know what you guys think.
> 
> Thank you for reading and all of the support, see you next time!


	6. Chapter 6

"So... you're friends with that weird guy now?" Miyaji asked.

He and Takao were taking a break in the campus café - something they did fairly often in-between classes or just to waste some time.

"Yep!" Takao nodded, taking a sip of his iced coffee. "He's a pretty interesting guy. He's... different - I kinda like that about him."

Miyaji raised an eyebrow, "Don't tell me that's your next victim..."

"Don't call the guys I like 'victims'! And no, he's just someone I'm interested in as a person. Can't I just want to purely be friendly with people?" Takao crossed his arms.

"Uhh... That's not really how you function though, Takao. Name one guy that you associate with that you haven't at least seriously hit on." Miyaji made a knowing expression.

Takao looked off to the side in thought. There had to be one guy. Takao wasn't some kind of loose canon just hopping on any guy's lap that he came across. But after thinking and thinking and thinking... He really couldn't recall any guys he'd been friendly to at first with the intent of being 'just friends'.

"Fine, I get your point," Takao sighed and slumped over the table. "But its not like that with this guy."

"Oh, you wanna bet?" Miyaji said slyly.

Takao sat up. "You seriously think I can't keep my pants on for one guy?"

"Hey, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the way you function. You even get the hint when someone's not interested - take me for example. But Takao... You really like messing around with guys if they give you the time of day - I'd be shocked if you didn't lay a finger on this one."

Takao narrowed his eyes, thinking for a moment. "Fine, let's bet on it."

"Oh, you are so on," Miyaji held out a hand triumphantly, "We're shaking on it to make it official."

"Tsk..." Takao scoffed and lazily held out his hand to be grasped into a firm handshake. "Have more faith in me, will ya? I thought you were my friend."

"I am, and that's how I know I'm going to win this bet," Miyaji smirked and took a sip from his coffee.

Takao stuck his tongue out at his friend. At that moment, his phone buzzed on the table.

"Ah, Kuroko-chan~!" Takao hummed as he recognized the name on the screen and happily picked up.

Miyaji raised an eyebrow, "Seriously?" He muttered, watching Takao gleefully type out a message on his phone. "Is this why you're so confident you won't fall for that Midorima guy - because there's another guy you're interested in? Sometimes I can't believe you, Takao..."

"Well, this guy is kind of off limits - he's Ryou-chan's assistant that I told you about. I don't think Ryou-chan would like it if I tried anything with him, but it doesn't hurt to flirt a little," Takao shrugged.

"Sometimes I get the urge to bash you over the head with something - maybe a pineapple would do," Miyaji seethed.

"Eh? Why would you want to do that!?" Takao frowned as he set his phone back down on the table.

"Because you're frustrating! Can't you be a bit more selective sometimes? I mean, its nice to have fun and all but don't you ever just want to settle on one guy for once?" Miyaji huffed and crossed his arms.

Takao thought for a moment, unable to respond. In a way, Miyaji was right - maybe he should stop fooling around and start getting serious. But commitment was so scary. Every time he tried it always ended terribly. There was always something about him that scared guys off from ever getting serious. Sometimes it was best just to fool around with no strings attached.

"S-Sorry... Maybe I shouldn't have been so harsh..." Miyaji spoke up after realizing Takao wasn't responding.

"Oh! No, it's fine! I was just thinking... because you're right," Takao gave a meek smile. "Whenever I find the right guy I promise I'll stop messing around so much."

"Well, I hope so..." Miyaji replied.

"Mm, me too," Takao looked down at his half-empty cup.

* * *

Takao walked out of his last lecture of the day, thoroughly exhausted from the extensive lecture in his nursing class. He couldn't wait until he could actually go out and do some hands-on stuff instead of just writing down pages of notes and memorizing entire books of intricate things. He gave a sigh. He was definitely ready to head home and was grateful that he didn't have his part-time job that night. As he walked down the main walkway of the campus, someone caught his eye.

"Oh, Shin-chan!" Takao called out and picked up his pace to run towards Midorima.

"Ah, hello..." Midorima replied in a reserved manner.

"I never see you on campus during this time! What's up?" Takao asked with a smile.

"I was studying in the library and wanted to get something from the vending machine," Midorima replied and continued walking.

"Ohhh, can I come along with you?" Takao asked, trotting alongside him.

"Whatever you want..." Midorima kept his face forward as he walked towards the vending machine.

Midorima dug into his pocket for his wallet and took out a few coins, slipping them into the vending machine.

"Red bean soup, huh? So that's what you like," Takao seemed to observe Midorima's every move.

"Yes," Midorima said curtly. Popping the can open and taking a few sips.

"Oh, that's cute - it's your lucky item, right?" Takao pointed to a small Hello Kitty keychain hanging from Midorima's wallet.

"Y-Yes... you are correct. I borrowed it from little sister," Midorima seemed to loosen up a bit, if only slightly.

"Aww you have a little sister? Me too!" Takao smiled, strangely happy that they had something in common.

"Is that so..." Midorima said softly, taking a few more sips.

"Yep, she's probably why I decided to take up nursing," Takao leaned up against the wall. Midorima looked slightly curious. "She isn't sickly or anything - but I kinda liked being a big brother and having to take care of her when my folks were out. She's in middle school now, about to start high school and she's all rebellious and whatnot so I can't really baby her anymore," Takao chuckled. "I guess... I just like taking care of people though."

"I see," Midorima nodded. He paused for a moment before speaking again. "I just like to do intricate things with my hands - things that not everyone could do."

"Is that why your fingers are always taped?" Takao asked, eying Midorima's fingers.

"Yes... My hands are important for what I want to do..." Midorima looked down at his taped fingers.

"That's pretty cool!" Takao smiled.

"Your story is a bit better..." Midorima mumbled.

"Huh? Nahh... it's pretty typical, don't you think?" Takao asked.

"Something like that doesn't matter," Midorima replied with another sip of his soup.

"I guess you're right," Takao replied. "Oh yeah, I brought my lucky item too," he dug into his bag and pulled out striped tie. "I was like you and had to borrow my item for today too. My roomate has a lot of 'em," Takao stuffed the tie back in his bag. "I was number one today, but I guess this tie really did help me - maybe because I had my lucky item with me I got to see you on a day we didn't have class together," Takao grinned.

Midorima's face reddened slightly as he glanced towards Takao, "Th-That's stupid," he hurriedly adjusted his glasses. "Anyway, I have to get back to the library and continue studying," he took a large gulp from the can and tossed it in a bin."

"Oh, okay," Takao was a little disappointed that Midorima had to leave so suddenly. "I really enjoyed talking to you today! See you tomorrow, Shin-chan!" Takao shouted and waved.

Midorima looked back quickly but didn't say a word. Takao chuckled and turned on his heel to make his way home.

* * *

"Don't tell me you've been texting Kazucchi this whole time," Kise sighed as he watched Kuroko flip his phone closed for the umpteenth time that day. It was lunch break during the shoot and they were on scene to film some of the first moments that Kise and Momoi's characters were to interact with each other.

"Is that an issue?" Kuroko asked.

"Err, not exactly..." Kise mumbled, poking at his salad with a fork.

"We're just having friendly conversation," Kuroko seemed to be assuring Kise.

"Eh... Uh, I don't mind, really," Kise gave a nervous chuckle. "Sorry, Kazucchi is my best friend, it's just..." He trailed off.

"He's kind of a flirt, isn't he?" Kuroko said straight-faced.

"Huh!? You could tell?" Kise asked in surprise.

"Yes, Takao-kun isn't very reserved about it," Kuroko's phone buzzed again. "But I can tell he isn't very serious - you don't have to worry."

"Y-Yeah..." Kise was a bit shocked at how perceptive Kuroko was.

"Is that something that would bother you?" Kuroko asked.

"Um, well... it would be yours and Kazucchi's business so it wouldn't really be my place to interfere..." Kise kept playing with the food in front of him.

"I see," Kuroko replied simply.

"Um... is it okay if I sit here?" A quiet voice sounded behind them.

"Oh, of course!" Kise brightened up and turned to Momoi with a smile.

Momoi sat down beside Kise, setting her plate of food down gently on the table.

"I really enjoyed acting with you today, Momocchi!I hope I didn't mess up too much... Ah! And I hope you don't mine me calling you Momocchi," Kise laughed nervously. At least that annoying cousin of hers wasn't there today so he felt a lot more relaxed.

"Huh? I don't mind at all!" Momoi smiled, "And I think you did a great job today! I could really tell that you worked hard to get into character - you must've practiced a lot."

"Yeah, thanks to Kurokocchi, he always helps me with my lines," Kise pointed his thumb towards his assistant.

"Oh! I-I didn't know you were here! I'm so sorry!" Momoi flustered as soon as she realized Kuroko was sitting at the table with them.

"It's alright, Momoi-san," Kuroko replied.

Momoi's cheeks flushed slightly, "Kuroko-kun must be a good assistant, helping you with your lines..."

"Kurokocchi is the best!" Kise beamed, Momoi giggled slightly.

"I'm just doing my job," Kuroko replied simply.

"Well, I wish I could have an assistant like you," Momoi twirled her hair around her finger. "Imayoshi-san won't let me get one. He says - 'as a growing woman you should learn how to do things yourself'. How unfair is that?"

"Eh... Kasamatsu-san says I'd be lost without an assistant..." Kise pouted and Momoi giggled again.

"Hey, Kise, do you got a minute?" As if on cue, Kasamatsu walked up to where the three were sitting.

"Oh..." Kise looked around the table.

"Its fine! Its important, I'm assuming," Momoi assured.

"I'm finished with my food so I'll go pick up some coffee. Sorry about leaving you, Momoi-san," Kuroko stood up from the table.

"It's fine!" Mommoi flushed and stood up as well. "I'll go eat in my trailer - its a bit hot out today anyway."

"Ah, alright then, I'm pretty much finished myself," Kise nodded. He waved goodbye to the other two and followed Kasamatsu away from the eating area.

Kise followed Kasamatsu to a quieter place from where the rest of the crew were gathered. Since most of the scenes being filmed that day were being shot outside, Kasamatsu stood under the shade of a large tree in the park they were currently located in.

"Whats up?" Kise asked as Kasamatsu turned on his heel.

"I need you to schedule an appointment for some interviews," Kasamatsu whipped out his phone, probably checking the open dates on Kise's schedule.

"Eh? You mean for the show? Isn't it a bit too early for interviews? We just started filming this week," Kise looked at Kasamatsu curiously.

"Ah, not that," Kasamatsu waved one of his hands side to side and shook his head. "I meant for your new assistant."

Kise's mouth widened slightly. He was about to protest 'But I already have an assistant,' but soon remembered that Kuroko was just a temp.

"Can't I just keep Kurokocchi?" Kise ended up blurting out.

"Hm?" Kasamatsu looked up from his phone and raised an eyebrow, "Kuroko isn't with the company as an assistant. He's just an intern at the moment - he was actually shadowing me but I offered him a chance to work as your assistant temporarily since your last one quit suddenly. This was never a permanent thing."

Kise felt like his heart sank a bit when Kasamatsu said it so bluntly like that. He knew since Kuroko started that it was temporary, but that had somehow slipped his mind when he started getting along so well with him.

"Is there... any way I can hire Kuroko permanently?" Kise asked.

"Well..." Kasamatsu tapped his chin, "He's interning for a different and higher paying job so I'm not entirely sure..." He paused for a moment. "But if you really want him to, he'd have to agree to it. Although he didn't seem to have any qualms about quitting when I told him he'd start training for his more permanent job at the company in a couple weeks."

"Huh? You already told Kurokocchi that he wouldn't be my assistant anymore?" Kise asked in surprise.

"Hm? Yes, of course," Kasamatsu said matter-of-factly.

The sinking feeling in Kise's heart turned painful. Kuroko was acting the same as ever, even with the knowledge that he wouldn't be Kise's assistant any longer. Did Kuroko actually not like him? He said they were friends, didn't he? Was it all just a lie? Kise clenched at his chest and directed his gaze towards the ground.

"Anyway, I'll be sending you a list of applicants-"

"...Kurokocchi..." Kise mumbled.

"Huh?"

"I want... Kurokocchi to be my assistant. Don't bother giving me any other applications," Kise's demeanor changed, his voice had a serious tone to it.

Kasamatsu crossed his arms and looked at Kise, his eyes narrowing. "Well you're going to have to ask him yourself because it doesn't matter how much you whine and beg - its ultimately up to him to decide. And don't you dare try to bribe him with a raise."

"I'm not going to do that," Kise huffed. "I'll talk to him normally - I promise."

"Well, good. And don't be discouraged if Kuroko doesn't want to be your assistant anymore. He has a higher paying job within his grasp and it isn't like the two of you won't be able to see each other anymore. You'll probably still be working in the same company," Kasamatsu reassured Kise.

"I suppose you're right..." Kise mumbled.

"Anyway, this shouldn't be your main concern right now. Shooting is going to resume in five minutes so go get ready!" Kasamatsu shooed Kise away as he pressed a few buttons on his phone.

Kise couldn't help but sigh as he slowly made his way back over to the rest of the crew. He wondered how he was going to bring all of this up with Kuroko. It would make sense if Kuroko decided to stop doing a lowly assistant's job, but Kise didn't want him to quit. Even if they remained in the same company, Kise didn't like the idea of not seeing Kuroko as often as he did now. It was strange, Kise didn't get very attached to people like this. Maybe it was because Kuroko was his first real friend besides Takao in a long time.

"Alright people! Get in places!" Kise heard the director shout.

He'd have to deal with this later - right now he had a job to do.

* * *

It took a few tries, but after shaking off his concern with the situation with Kuroko, Kise got back into his role smoothly. They continued shooting the rest of the scene after Kise and Momoi's characters meet at the coffee shop and he felt like the chemistry between them was going good. It seemed like the rest of the staff thought so as well, since the amount of takes they had to do didn't pile up nearly as much as previous days.

"We're done for today. Thanks for the hard work, everyone!"

The crew and cast clapped as director Harasawa announced the end of the day. Everyone started packing up immediately. Kise let out a sigh of relief and thanked the crew, bidding the director and Momoi farewell and went over to the trailer to gather his things. Kasamatsu had to leave early to attend to another idol - sometimes Kise forgot that he wasn't Kasamatsu's only concern at the agency

After a bit of clearing up and changing into his normal clothes, Kise heard a soft knock from the door of his trailer.

"Yes?" Kise opened the door and was met with light-blue eyes.

"The car is ready when you are, Kise-kun," Kuroko said in his normal, everyday manner. It was as if he wasn't even bothered by his soon-to-be change of jobs.

"Um... Kurokocchi - do you mind if I talk to you for a moment?" Kise felt a little bit of nervousness well up in his stomach for some odd reason.

"Sure," Kuroko nodded and stepped into the trailer, Kise closing the door behind him.

"I guess I should just get to the point," Kise sighed, "You're... changing jobs - right, Kurokocchi?"

"Hm," Kuroko crossed his arms, "I guess Kasamatsu-san told you."

"Y-Yeah... I thought you would've told me though..." Kise scratched at his chin.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think that would concern you much," Kuroko said with his usual straightforwardness.

"Huh?" Kise gave him a perplexed look.

"I mean, I'm not really trained to be an assistant so I was unsure as to whether I was doing things right or not. Also, we both knew from the beginning that my job as your assistant was temporary."

As Kuroko explained Kise could feel his chest tighten a bit. Maybe Kuroko really didn't enjoy working for him after all.

"I know that, but..." Kise's voice was quiet, barely above a whisper. "I really enjoyed having Kurokocchi be my assistant. I thought the time we had together was honestly fun. I might be selfish in saying this, especially with you having a better job on the line - but I don't want any other assistant besides Kurokocchi."

Kise looked Kuroko straight in the eyes, he noticed the subtle surprise in Kuroko's face. Both of them remained silent for a moment before Kuroko let out a brief huff and a small smile spread on his face.

"That makes me kind of happy," Kuroko said.

"Really?" Kise's eyes widened in surprise.

"I thought you might've just thought of me as a filler."

"No way! I would never!" Kise nearly shouted.

Kuroko chuckled a bit. "I'm relieved."

"So, uh..." Kise cleared his throat. "Would you... like to keep being my assistant? I mean, you don't have to..." Kise looked down at his feet, rubbing his neck.

"Well, honestly, its probably best if I don't," Kuroko said bluntly.

Kise's face dropped.

"But, I enjoy doing this, I suppose," Kuroko continued. "Besides, I agree with Kasamatsu-san - you really do need someone looking after you. I'm not sure many people can handle it."

"Kurokocchi..." Kise whined, but he was happy.

It felt like a huge weight lifted off his shoulders. There were honestly so many times in the short period Kuroko had been his assistant that he seriously thought he wouldn't have been able to make it through the day without him. He probably owed most of his success so far in the filming due to Kuroko's resilience to put up with him.

"Anyways, we should hurry up - its getting late. Takao-san said he made dinner for you again," Kuroko began picking up a few of Kise's things.

"Ehh? Takao is texting you more than me now!" Kise puffed his cheeks as he checked his phone with zero messages from Takao.

"Oh, maybe it was a surprise then," Kuroko said. "Don't worry, Kise-kun, Takao talks about you all the time with me. He's usually asking me how you're doing throughout the day - he's a good guy. It's nice to see two friends like you and him."

"Aww, Kazucchi!" Kise sniffed and teared up a bit. "I'm going to take him on a vacation when I get some time off!"

Kuroko chuckled again.

"Oh yeah, Kurokocchi, would you like to come over today then? For dinner, that is," Kise asked as he checked that he had everything before making his way out of the trailer.

"I'm sorry, I'll have to take a rain check again," Kuroko replied. "I have to go home and feed my dog. I wasn't able to stop by my apartment today so he's probably getting hungry."

"Oh, you have a dog?" Kise asked.

Kuroko nodded. "Yes - a husky. He's very friendly and he keeps me good company since I live alone."

"How cute! I want to see Kurokocchi's dog one day," Kise smiled. "What's his name?"

"Nigou."

"Huh..." Kise thought that was a strange name but didn't want to say it out loud.

"I know his name is kind of strange, but a friend named him for me," Kuroko said as if he read Kise's mind.

"Oh! Was it your friend you mentioned... Kagami-kun, was it?" Kise asked.

Kuroko nodded. "I found him abandoned on the side of the road and decided to take him home. When Kagami-kun saw it he said it looked a lot like me and started calling him 'Nigou'. Although, Kagami-kun doesn't really like dogs so he kind of avoids him..."

"A dog that looks like Kurokocchi must be so cute!" Kise sighed.

"I'm not sure how I feel about being called 'cute'..." Kuroko commented, glancing over at Kise.

"Ah! Sorry, I didn't mean... It's just... uhhh!" Kise flustered.

Kuroko let out a soft sigh, "It's fine, I understood what you meant. I was just messing with you."

"You actually made me worried that I offended you! That's so mean!" Kise whined.

Even with Kuroko's constant teasing, Kise's chest felt lighter with the fact that he would be sticking around for a while longer by his side.

* * *

"Hey, hey, Shin-chan - lets go grab a bite to eat!" Takao said cheerily as their class ended and everyone around them began to gather their things.

"Must you persist to call me by that name," Midorima sighed and neatly tucked away his notepad and pen.

"But I like it!" Takao pouted, "And it totally suits you."

"A childish nickname like that does not suit me," Midorima pushed the bridge of his glasses up.

"Yeah, yeah," Takao waved off Midorima's protests. "You never responded to my invite - wanna go get something to eat? There's a place nearby that's really good, I think you'll like it."

Midorima stood up and paused for a moment. "Fine," he said curtly and began walking out the classroom.

Takao chuckled a bit and caught up.

It took them about ten minutes to walk from the university to the café that Takao and Kise often ate at. Midorima wasn't being very talkative along the way... but he wasn't very talkative to begin with.

"Hey, Shin-chan, how are you doing in the class? You understanding everything?" Takao asked as the two of them sat down at a booth.

"I'm confident that I know the material well enough," Midorima replied as he eyed the menu.

"Haaa... Maybe you can help me then. I think I'm getting most of the stuff but I'm still confused on some things... and with the exam coming up and all I really need a good study partner."

"The way you goof off in class doesn't tell me that you are much of a pursuer of academia," Midorima huffed, "In fact you don't seem very serious about your classwork at all, so why should I help someone like that?"

"Ouch, that hurts, Shin-chan," Takao whined. "I'm serious, really! Its just that class is so booooring. My nursing classes are a lot more interesting and I pay attention in those a lot more, and I get grades - I promise! So please help me, Shin-chan? Pleeeease?"

Takao begged while Midorima looked at him with narrowed eyes. Before he could reply the waitress came up to their table.

"Oh, Takao-kun, you aren't with Kise-kun today?" Riko eyed the stranger.

"Nah, Kise's at work - today I brought a friend!" Takao said cheerily.

"Huh, I didn't think anyone else would be able to put up with you besides Kise-kun," Riko commented and a very stifled grunt came from across the table.

"Hey, Shin-chan, are you laughing at me!?" Takao protested, but was honestly shocked that he discovered that Midorima could possibly be capable of laughing.

Midorima cleared his throat, "No, I'm not," he denied, adjusting his glasses.

"Riko-chan, that's a mean thing to say around my friend!" Takao complained.

Riko laughed, "I'm just messing around. I know you're Mr. Popular." She took out her notepad, "Now, what would you two like to eat?"

"I would like a Caesar salad and a glass of water," Midorima set down the menu.

"I'll take the usual, Riko-chan," Takao said.

Riko nodded and walked off to deliver the orders.

"So will you please help me study before the test?" Takao went back to begging, even trying to put on a sad and pathetic face.

Midorima tsked and glanced away from Takao who slumped in defeat over the table.

"Only if you're actually serious," Midorima mumbled.

Takao perked back up, "I am! I totally am! I can't get my degree if I don't pass this course, after all."

"Fine then. When should we-"

"We'll go to my place tomorrow then!" Takao interrupted with enthusiasm.

"Y-Your place? There's a perfectly good library..."

"Yeahhhh but I feel a lot more comfortable in my own house, ya know?" Takao rested his chin on his hand. "Don't worry, my roomate will probably be out at work all day so we won't have any interruptions. I promise I'm my most studious while I'm at home."

Midorima seemed to hesitate for a moment, crossing his arms in thought.

"Fine. But only for two hours," he said with finality.

"Yay! I knew you were the best, Shin-chan!" Takao cheered.

* * *

"Why did I let you rope me into this..." Midorima sighed as they walked up to Takao's apartment.

"I thought you were fine with this," Takao responded. "Besides, its the same as studying in the library, its just at my house. We have a nice living room and everything."

"Hmph, whatever," Midorima mumbled.

Despite his protests, he still agreed to come along and that made Takao a little happy.

"I even made sure the place was clean for when you came over. I can also make some snacks if you want," Takao grinned as he unlocked the door.

"Ah, welcome back, Kazucchi," a voice sounded from Kise's bedroom the moment the door creaked open.

"Huh? Ryou-chan? I thought you were at work?" Takao asked in mild surprise.

"Kise... Ryou...?" Midorima mumbled to himself.

Takao turned to face him. "Hm? Oh, maybe you've heard of him, yeah? Heh, I didn't mention it but yeah - my friend is the idol Kise Ryouta. Pretty cool, huh?" Takao felt a bit proud.

"Kise... Ryouta..." Midorima's face stiffened a bit.

"Huh? Shin-chan, are you alright?" Takao asked in concern and confusion.

"Yeah, I just stopped by the house for a bit on my break to grab something. I'm headed out now, Kurokocchi should be waiting down at the parking lot for me," Kise came out from the hall and walked towards the entrance. "I'll leave you and your friend alone soon, sorry about that."

"Ah, before you go let me introduce you - this is my friend from college, Midorima Shintarou."

"Takao!" Midorima hissed but it was too late.

"Huh?" Kise looked up at Midorima, suddenly his eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "No way... Midorimacchi, is that really you?"

Midorima's whole body went rigid as he didn't speak a word.

Takao looked back and forth between his two friends. "You two know each other!?" Takao asked in surprise.

"Heh, we kind of go back pretty far..." Kise grinned slyly.

Midorima still stood in a petrified state, his face turning a shade of pink.

"HUH?" Takao felt like his head was spinning. What was going on?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, another delayed chapter. I'm really sorry about that. ;~; I've had killer writers block for longer than I'd like, but I'm slowly trying to write a little bit a day to get myself out of it. Despite the long wait I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope there aren't many awkward parts and that you still like it. ^^ I think I may just occasionally write a chapter that will focus on one pairing at a time just to change it up a bit. Otherwise they'll probably still remain like this, going back and forth between the two pairs.
> 
> Hopefully this cliffhanger will give me motivation to continue the pace I have going. For now, I'll see you next time! ^^/


	7. Chapter 7

Kise stifled a small chuckle under his breath as he sauntered his way towards his confused best friend and a beet-red Midorima.

"You've really grown up, huh? Jeeze, you got really tall. Somehow you still look the same though," Kise eyed Midorima with a suspicious grin.

"Ryou-chan... can you please tell me what's going on?" Takao asked in desperation.

"D-Don't you dare tell him!" Midorima finally spoke up, his voice cracking a bit.

"Aww, but its such a cute story!" Kise chuckled again. "Besides, I'd probably tell Kazucchi later anyway. You might as well be here to correct me for any inaccuracies."

Midorima stiffened a bit, his voice catching in his throat before he nervously fiddled with the glasses on his face.

"Why must you tell such an embarrassing story..." Midorima muttered under his breath.

"I have to know!" Takao clung on to Midorima's arm.

"Yeah, Kazucchi will probably annoy both of us for days if we don't just get it all out in the open now," Kise shrugged.

Midorima let out a loud 'tsk' and crossed his arms, breaking Takao's hold on him.

"Anyway, Kazucchi, we went to elementary school together~." Kise hummed.

Midorima's nose flared in frustration, it was easy to tell that he was trying very hard not stop Kise right then and there.

"I had just moved so I started in the middle of the school year. I was nervous about being the new kid when everyone else was already friends, but it ended up not being so bad. I made a few friends and that was that - I had successfully made my place at the new school. But then I started to notice something..." Kise looked at Midorima with a smirk.

Midorima let out an annoyed huff.

"I had noticed a kid from the neighboring class had started to glare at me."

"I was not glaring..." Midorima mumbled quietly and Takao let out a snicker.

"Whether it was in the halls or out during recess, this kid just kept staring at me. At first I thought he didn't like me or something, I thought maybe he was a bully. So one day I asked a kid in my class who he was and he told me it was Midorimacchi." Kise gave a wink to a seething Midorima.

"He told me that Midorimacchi wasn't a bully or anything and that he was a pretty normal kid - just that he was a bit of a loner. So I figured maybe he wanted to be friends, so the next time I caught him staring at me I waved to him. As soon as I did his eyes went wide and his head darted back around so fast!" Kise laughed.

Midorima let out a low grumble that not even Takao could hear, but that didn't make him any less entertained than he was at that moment.

"So I started waving to him every time I saw him and he'd do the same thing every time. But one day," Kise paused to give Midorima a knowing look. "He finally came up to me."

Takao listened in anticipation.

"He was super nervous, his face was so red! He finally managed to speak up and when he did he asked for my name. I was still a bit iffy about him so I just told him 'Kise'. He hurriedly thanked me and ran off. I was pretty confused, until a few days after that I started to get random gifts on my desk."

"No..." Takao gasped and looked at Midorima.

"I-I need to use the restroom! Where is it?!" Midorima said in a shaky voice, his face still had a red hue to it.

"Shin-chan don't go-"

"I need to go!" Midorima interrupted loudly, an obvious look of 'I don't want to be here anymore' plastered on his face.

"Down... the hall on your right..." Takao said quietly, stifling his laughter.

Kise excitedly continued as Midorima stomped off down the hallway. "So you probably figured it out by now, huh, Kazucchi? One day I found a flower picked at the nearby park on my desk, the next day I found a piece of candy with a ribbon tied around it, next was a small toy from one of those machines you find out in front of the convenience store... Every day I'd find something like that on my desk at school the next morning. I'd ask my classmates if they had seen who put it there but they always claimed they never saw anyone. Then one day it was a letter. When I opened it, all it said inside was 'Kise, I like you'. So cute, huh?" Kise snickered and Takao was barely containing his laughter.

"So obviously I was really curious as to who could like me, but they didn't leave a name, so I decided to get to school as early as I could to see who it could possibly be. I rushed to school the next morning, before anyone had gotten to the classroom. And of all people, I see Midorimachi lingering around my desk. That's when I knew it had to be him, but I didn't want him to know that I knew so I snuck away quietly. Later when the rest of my classmates were gathering in the classroom, I went to check my desk and sure enough there was something there and it was another letter. All it said was to meet them by the swing set at recess. At this point I knew what was going to happen, but I guess even at that age I was a little mischievous."

"So you went?" Takao asked, totally into the story by this point.

"Heh, of course," Kise nodded. "And little to my surprise, there was Midorimacchi, standing by the tree that was beside the swing set. I walked up to him with a smile and he was even more nervous than when he came up to me and asked me my name. I asked him why he called me out and almost instantly he shouted 'Please go out with me!' - he said it so fast it was like one word."

Takao snorted.

"Of course I figured this might happen but I was still a bit shocked, I didn't think a guy would be confessing to me..."

"I thought you were a girl!" Both Kise and Takao turned their heads towards the hallway.

"Bahahaha!" Takao let out a loud laugh that he had been holding back the entire time.

"Unfortunately that wasn't very uncommon when I was a kid," Kise sighed. "I was mistaken for a girl a lot until I hit a growth spurt in middle school. The fact that my hair was long enough to hit my shoulders wasn't any help..."

Takao giggled as he remembered looking at Kise's baby photos. He had also thought that Kise really looked like a girl when he was young.

"You have to continue," Takao said, wiping a tear of laughter from his eye.

"You've heard enough!" Midorima came out from the hallway, his face as red as ever.

"But I haven't said the best part, Midorimacchi - the fact that I said 'yes' to your confession!"

"REALLY?"

"Kise!"

"You should've seen how happy Midorimacchi was when I said yes!" Kise teased.

"Ryou-chan, you're too cruel," Takao said despite how much he was enjoying the story.

"So Midorimacchi was my first boyfriend," Kise sighed.

"That didn't count! It only lasted a day!" Midorima fumed. "You led me to believe you were a girl a-and at the end of the day I was made a fool of because someone else had to tell me you were a boy!"

"But I thought if Midorimacchi truly liked me he wouldn't care," Kise winked.

"!" Midorima tightened his fists. "Because of you..." he didn't bother finishing his sentence before sharply turning on his heels and heading for the door. "I'm leaving."

"Huh? Shin-chan, wait!" Takao glanced back at Kise before running after Midorima.

"Yeah, Midorimacchi, I have to leave anyway, don't leave Kazucchi alone," Kise also walked over as Midorima was grabbing his shoes. "You know, Midorimacchi, if I would've known that you would've been so hurt by my prank I wouldn't have done it..."

Midorima paused. Takao stood beside him.

"After that I felt kind of bad, so that's why I tried so hard to make friends with you after the fact, but all through the rest of elementary school you wanted nothing to do with me. After that we went to separate schools and I never saw you again. I'm really sorry if that hurt you so much, Midorimacchi..." Kise looked at Midorima's back solemnly. "I really do have to go so please stay with Kazucchi, 'kay?" He tried to say in a more chipper voice, slipping on his shoes and reaching for the door.

Kise gave a wave before exiting the apartment and it became unusually quiet after the door shut.

"I'm sorry I laughed too, Shin-chan," Takao said quietly, setting a hand on Midorima's shoulder.

"I liked him..." Midorima said quietly.

"Huh?" Takao was mildly surprised to hear Midorima's voice in such a soft tone.

"Even after finding out he was a boy... I still liked him..." Midorima sighed and set his shoes down. "I was angry and confused so I avoided him after that. I was glad when I thought I would never have to see him again. You can imagine my surprise when I began seeing him on the cover of magazines."

"Shin-chan..." Takao squeezed Midorima's shoulder. "I-I know Ryou-chan did something cruel to you but I know he really is sorry! The Ryou-chan today would never..."

"Hmph, I know," Midorima sighed and began walking back to the living room. "We were children, children like to play tricks. Its absolutely silly of me to have been affected so much by it."

"Its not silly at all!" Takao followed him, "Even as a child your feelings are important."

Midorima gave a look that Takao had never seen before. His face seemed softer and less tense - it really seemed to bring out the fact that he was incredibly handsome underneath his glasses.

Takao felt his breath hitch slightly in his throat. "I-I'll make sure no one will make you feel like that again."

Takao wasn't really sure why he felt the urge to say that, but looking at Midorima at that moment is was almost as if he couldn't help it. He felt like he truly wanted to protect Midorima and his feelings. Just thinking about seeing his friend hurting gave him a pain in his gut.

Midorima huffed and smiled slightly. Takao was taken aback at actually seeing Midorima smile, if only a little. What's more, he felt happy in the fact that Midorima was smiling because of him.

"Let's just get to studying," Midorima said, sitting down on the couch. "I know we're going to be needing to do a lot."

"Y-Yeah," Takao stuttered and stood in place. "I'll uh, go get something to eat..."

The entire time Takao studied with Midorima, he couldn't quite find it in himself to completely relax. Maybe it was because the iron wall that made Midorima so closed-off had crumbled slightly when he allowed Takao to see him at a weak moment. Takao kept stealing glances whenever he could, like it would allow him to see more of Midorima's weak points. But to no avail, Midorima seemed to be back to his old self.

Midorima sighed after about an hour, "Takao, are you even paying attention to half of what we're going over?"

"Eh? Of course I am!" Takao protested, although he had just caught himself daydreaming a bit.

Midorima let out a 'hmph' and set his pencil down. He grabbed for his glasses, removing them to rub at his temple, slightly frustrated with Takao who clearly was distracted.

"Um," Takao instinctively grabbed at Midorima's wrist that held his glasses, shocking the man a bit. "Can... I see your face?"

"Huh? What nonsense are you talking about?" Midorima looked up, trying to free his wrist from Takao's grasp.

"Man, you really are good looking, you must've gotten tons of girlfriends after Kise," Takao said lightheartedly.

Midorima's face reddened once again that day as he yanked his hand away and quickly put his glasses on.

"I have no time to deal with something as frivolous as that," he commented, crossing his arms.

"Huh!? Really? Are you saying you've never had a girlfriend!?" Takao asked in disbelief, leaning in closer to Midorima.

Midorima faced away from Takao, inching away from him slightly, "And what is so bad about that?" He grumbled.

"Hm, there's nothing wrong with it. It's kinda cute, actually," Takao chuckled a bit.

"Quit saying things about me are 'cute'! I'm a grown man!" Midorima retorted.

"Ehhh but Shin-chan is cute!" Takao poked at Midorima's face.

Midorima quickly swatted the pesky hand away, "Please stop. How would you feel if someone kept calling you 'cute'?"

"Hmm..." Takao thought for a moment. "I'd probably be flattered!" Takao wore a cheesy grin.

"Tsk," Midorima turned his attention back to the study sheet. "Let's just move onto the next section..."

Takao just happily went along with Midorima's change of subject.

* * *

"Hey, Kurokocchi..." Kise walked up to his assistant after his day of filming. The day went the best it had since they started, but there was something bothering Kise the entire time.

"Hm, what is it, Kise-kun?" Kuroko who was gathering some of Kise's things turned on his heel.

"I never really meant to make you feel obligated to stay as my assistant... Kasamatsu-san even scolded me about it... I'm really sorry, Kurokocchi, I was only thinking about myself when I confronted you about it the other day - you should do what you want," Kise looked down towards his feet, slightly ashamed of how he basically begged Kuroko to stay working a job that he originally wasn't met for.

Kuroko let out a small sigh, "You're right. If I was in my right mind I'd quit this job right now and continue my training for a better job."

Kise flinched as he hear Kuroko's brutal honesty. He really shouldn't have been so selfish...

"But," Kuroko continued, "Despite that, I'll continue being your assistant. At least for the time being."

"Huh, you really don't mind?" Kise looked up in mild surprise.

"Yes, honestly I don't really care what my job is, as long as I have one. This isn't my dream job or anything, I just got a reference to this company from a friend. I just needed the money to help pay for my school a little bit, and after talking with Kasamatsu-san about my pay, it more than covers what I need. I already had most of my funding with savings, help from my parents, scholarships, etc., so I was just looking for a little more money to help with extra expenses," Kuroko explained.

"Oh," Kise let out a sigh of relief, "I'm glad I didn't make you feel obligated to stay as my assistant."

"No, you didn't. If I needed a higher paying job I would've quit being your assistant in a heartbeat," Kuroko said bluntly.

"A-Ah..." Kise felt like those words hurt just a little...

"But it wouldn't be as fun," Kuroko shrugged, going back to checking if Kise had the rest of his things before making his way out of the trailer.

"You... have fun with me?" Kise perked up as he followed Kuroko out.

"I suppose its pretty interesting following the life of a celebrity such as yourself," Kuroko replied nonchalantly.

Kise smiled, "I have fun with Kurokocchi too!" He trotted up beside his assistant. "Um, so... do you have time tonight? I mean, to come over for dinner," he asked hopefully.

"Hm, I think tonight is fine," Kuroko replied.

"Really?!" Kise nearly jumped in happiness. "Ah, I'm so happy, Kurokocchi is coming over~!"

"Takao-kun already invited me anyway and I said yes," Kuroko held up his phone.

"Oh..." Kise's excitement dulled down a bit. Takao again? Kuroko had been talking to him a lot lately.

"He said he's making nabe. That'll be nice since its gotten pretty cold lately," Kuroko continued.

"Y-Yeah, we really like making nabe when winter starts nearing," Kise tried to shake the growing jealousy.

During the car ride home, Kise wrote off the jealous feeling as just a bit of worry over Takao getting involved with his assistant. A situation like that might get a little hairy, so it would probably be best if it didn't happen. Then again, it wasn't like Kise knew if Kuroko even swung that way, he most likely just needlessly worried.

"Hooray! Kuroko-chan came back to visit me~!" Takao said as he greeted them at the door.

"Hello, Takao-kun, thank you for inviting me over," Kuroko replied as he walked inside, slipping off his shoes.

"Hey, Ryou-chan, where's my greeting kiss?" Takao puckered up his lips.

"Right here," Kise shoved his hand in Takao's face as he stepped into the house.

"Aww, you're no fun!" Takao chuckled as he moved Kise's hand from his face. He closed the door behind Kise, "So how was filming today?"

"It went great, I'm getting nervous as the premier gets closer and closer, though," Kise replied as he led Kuroko into the kitchen. He offered Kuroko a beer.

"I'm excited to see Ryou-chan on a drama! I'm not sure if I'll be able to take it seriously, though. Seeing Ryou-chan pretending to be someone else might be a little strange," Takao followed and took a seat at the table. Kise handed him a beer as well as taking one for himself.

"I think Kise-kun is pretty much a natural at this, though. He's been doing very well, even when he's interacting with the other cast members," Kuroko commented.

"Aw, I'm not  _that_  great," Kise smiled, scratching the back of his head, feeling pretty happy about being praised.

"So, Ryou-chan hasn't been a handful yet?" Takao teased, sipping his beer.

"Not yet," Kuroko replied.

"I'm not that troublesome!" Kise retorted. "That reminds me, Kurokocchi - what are you going to school for? You said you needed the job for some extra money."

"Oh yes, I'm studying to become a teacher," Kuroko blew on the food to cool it down.

"A teacher, huh? I think I'd fall in love if Kuroko-chan were my teacher," Takao playfully joked.

"Well, I'm interested in working with younger children. Although I suppose something like that could still happen. Children can be surprising like that," Kuroko replied.

"So, like, an elementary school teacher? That's great!" Kise commented.

"Yes, in a few semesters I'll be able to assist at a daycare so I'll get some hands on experience as well."

"I think a job like that would definitely suit Kurokocchi, I bet you're great with kids," Kise felt like he was doting a little bit.

"Of course, he has to put up with you all day," Takao couldn't help but get in a jab at his friend.

"Very funny, Kazucchi," Kise stuck his tongue out before grabbing for a piece of beef.

"Well, that's true in its own way," Kuroko added.

"You two are mean!" Kise whined.

Takao let out a guffaw of laughter while Kuroko silently chuckled to himself.

"This nabe is quite good, I feel lucky to be having such a nice meal," Kuroko said after a while of everyone enjoying the food and drinks.

"No problem! Ryou-chan and me really love stuff like this whenever we can make it. I'm lucky that he brings in a good income so we can have meat whenever we want.~"

"Yeah, and I'm glad Kurokocchi could finally come over for dinner," Kise smiled warmly.

"Oh, Kurko-chan, you have some food on your cheek," Takao reached out his hand towards Kuroko's face. He brushed his finger across Kuroko's face and stuck it in his mouth. "Mm!"

"Thank you, Takao-kun," Kuroko said, unphased.

"Kurokocchi could've gotten that himself..." Kise commented, his eyes looking downwards towards the table.

"Ah, I couldn't help it! It was too tempting!" Takao said lightheartedly.

But Kise didn't feel the same. He didn't like Takao flirting with Kuroko at all, even if he wasn't serious. It was strange, he was so used to Takao's behavior, he flirted all the time with people, whether he was interested in them or not. So why did it bother him so much when he did it with Kuroko?

"I'll just use a napkin next time," Kuroko added, as if he could tell how uneasy Kise was about it.

Kise tried to smile as they continued with the dinner.

"Thank you very much for inviting me over," Kuroko bowed slightly at the front door after putting his shoes on.

"It was no problem! Come over any time!" Takao said gleefully.

"I'm glad you finally got the time to come," Kise said with a smile.

"Likewise. I'll be heading out now - thank you again," Kuroko turned to walk out the door.

"Um, let me walk you out to the car?" Kise stopped Kuroko before he could leave.

"Sure."

Kise and Kuroko quietly made their way down the stairs to the car. Kise felt like he should say something, but couldn't think of what. Maybe he should apologize for Takao's behavior at dinner... or maybe even his own behavior.

"Sorry, if dinner got a little weird..." Kise said with slight nervousness.

"It's fine, I'm used to Takao-kun's antics by now," Kuroko waved it off.

"But, he shouldn't be touching you without your permission..." Kise mumbled. He heard Kuroko chuckle slightly.

"I'm the one who should be taking care of you, remember?" The corners of Kuroko's mouth turned up a bit. "I'm fine, Kise-kun. Takao-kun is your best friend, right? You should know more than anyone that he's just being friendly."

Kise looked at Kuroko's face for a moment and sighed. "You're right... I don't know, I guess I just don't want anything happening to you or something... N-Not that Kazucchi is a bad guy, I probably would be like this if it were anyone else too, it's just..."

"You're way too protective?" Kuroko finished the thought.

"Y-Yeah, something like that," Kise turned his head and rubbed the back of his neck.

Kuroko huffed, "Let me do the worrying from now on, alright?"

"Y-Yes..." Kise said quietly, avoiding eye contact.

"Goodnight, Kise-kun," Kuroko turned to open the car.

Kise grabbed his arm on a sudden impulse, Kuroko turned his head to see what was the matter.

"Goodnight, Kurokocchi," Kise said quietly. He maintained his grasp on Kuroko's arm for a bit before letting go.

Kuroko nodded before getting into the car and driving off.

Kise shuffled his way back to his apartment. What was up with him lately? Even for him, this behavior was too strange. He wasn't sure how Kuroko didn't hate him by now with all the weird behavior he had to put up with.

Shutting the door behind him, Kise sloppily took off his shoes at the door and stumbled onto the couch face-first.

"Do you like Kuroko-chan?"

Kise's head jerked up as he heard Takao's voice. "What are you talking about?"

"I dunno," Takao shrugged. "You seemed to really not like me getting cozy with him, and you seem like you really dote on him. Have you fallen for him or something?" Takao gave a smirk.

"Yeah right, I can't have a thing for my assistant," Kise flopped over on his back with a sigh. "I'm just trying to protect Kurokocchi from your devilish ways."

"You're no angel yourself!" Takao huffed, making room for himself on the couch. "Anyways, Kurokocchi is cute but I'm not 'after him' so you don't have to worry."

"I never said I thought that," Kise grumbled.

"Yeah, but you were thinking it," Takao eyed his friend.

"... Sorry, Kazucchi," Kise said quietly. "I'm just looking out for him."

"I understand. In that way you're kind of motherly," Takao said with a smirk.

"Psh, I guess. Anyway, how is Midorimacchi? I hope he wasn't too upset with me the other day. I still feel bad to this day that I did that too him."

"Oh, he's fine. I think he really liked you, you know. What a heartbreaker you are!" Takao shoved Kise a bit.

Kise chuckled. "Well, even at that age he was kind of tempting to tease a bit. No wonder you like hanging around him so much."

"I don't tease him  _that_  much," Takao defended himself.

"Riiiight," Kise replied.

Takao chuckled and stood up from the couch. "Anyways, I'm gonna get ready for bed, I've got an early class tomorrow. You should too, Mr. TV-Star." Takao patted Kise's knee before walking off towards the hallway.

Kise lay on the couch for a moment, thinking about the last few hours that had transpired. He dug into his pocket for his cellphone, tapping away. He didn't have that much to drink that night, but he could already feel his head was slightly swimming.

'Hey, Kurokocchi! Do you think you can help me with some of my lines this weekend?'

He pressed send and slowly made his way off the couch. He knew Kuroko wouldn't respond right away since he was probably still on his way home. He slid his phone back into his pocket and walked down the hallway, although he didn't stop at his room. He knocked on Takao's door.

"Come in," he heard Takao's voice sound from the other side and pushed it open. Takao looked like he just got finished changing, he usually just wore boxers to bed. "What is it, Ryou-chan?"

Kise walked up to Takao and reached his arm out to grab him around the waist and pull him close, "Let's have sex?"

"Huh?" Takao was mildly surprised. "Its been a while since you've been the one to initiate... but aren't you tired?"

"I've been so pent up lately its kinda driving me crazy. I haven't had much time to do anything let alone something like this," Kise said quietly, already feeling the heat building in his pants.

"Not even with that cute co-star of yours?" Takao asked, placing a hand on Kise's chest.

"Like I could just sleep with someone as pure as Momoi, she's not that kind of girl," Kise's hips shifted a bit.

"But I have to get up early..." Takao knew his resolve was weak but at least he tried.

"You don't want to?" Kise whispered next to Takao's ear, his hips rubbing against the other man's.

"That's so unfair..." Takao mumbled, his breath hitching slightly in his throat. Sometimes it was hard to avoid this somewhat toxic relationship he and his friend had. "Did dinner get you that horny?"

Kise said nothing as he lowered Takao on his bed. There were probably better ways to deal with his frustration, but this is how he and Takao sometimes dealt with their problems. Instead of like normal friends who just talked it out they would rather just fuck to forget everything. Maybe they were actually bad for each other, but Kise knew he'd be lost without Takao. And Takao would always be there for him and wouldn't judge him, unlike everyone else in his life. Kuroko probably hated him because of his spoiled attitude, but just put up with it because that was his job. Kise hated the thought. Right now he wanted to forget all of that.

* * *

Takao fell asleep almost immediately afterward. He really was exhausted. Again, Kise felt like he was being selfish. Although tired himself, he couldn't help but lie awake beside his friend, not finding the strength to get up and go to his own room.

He finally felt like he could doze off when he heard the sound of buzzing from his pants lying on the floor. He struggled to reach for them, pulling out the phone and checking the screen.

'Of course I'll help you with your lines. Thank you once again for inviting me over - I really enjoyed myself. I'll see you tomorrow at the studio.'

Kise read the message over and slumped back on the bed with a sigh. He didn't know why, but he nearly felt like crying.

Finally finding the strength to stand up, he slid out of bed and gathered his clothes, quietly making his way back to his own room. He really hoped he could even face Kuroko tomorrow. He didn't know what his problem was and he worried that it would trouble his assistant who had been nothing but a blessing to him. And how could he even think that Kuroko thought negatively of him? He was such a kind person, he had more than proven that he was a true friend to Kise. Instead of going to sleep with Takao like a coward he could've just called up Kuroko and confirmed it all right then and there.

Kise didn't bother putting on his clothes as he tossed himself onto his bed. He just wanted to fall asleep and fast. Maybe the morning would be better for him, he hoped so. He wanted to apologize to Takao too for his behavior. He felt like he shouldn't be hurting his best friend any longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope the cliffhanger last chapter was worth it! I hope you enjoyed that story of how Kise and Midorima knew each other. Although it looks like now things are getting a bit more serious, at least for Kise. Hang in there, model-boy! ;~;  
> Anyways, if you didn't know I MOVED. Yes, it was kind of rough getting all settled but I'm finally at a point where I can just sit and write again. And it probably doesn't matter, but my timezone changed by about 6 hours so that will be affecting my posting times. Probably not important, but I tend to post new chapters around the same time.
> 
> A-N-Y-Ways, I hope you enjoyed the new chapter. I hope to get back to regular writing. I even have the burden of a new story that I've started, but more ideas = more writing spurts, so hopefully updates can actually pick up (yay!) Thank you and see you next time!


	8. Chapter 8

Takao woke up to find Kise already gone from his bed. It was kind of surprising considering Kise was one of the worst people to get up in the morning ever, but the lack of another body next to him, or even in the apartment for that matter, was proof enough.

He got up slowly and soon remembered the previous night. Kise was a little rough, so he could feel a dull pain in his back. Not that he didn't like rough sex every once in a while, but it had been a while since Kise was a bit more on the feral side. Probably because when they lately had sex it was usually out of comfort, celebration, or just horny drunkenness.

Takao could tell something was bothering Kise last night, but he decided not to bring it up with him. He wondered if it was because of his comment about Kuroko... Takao could tell that Kise was starting to grow closer and closer with his assistant. He wasn't sure exactly how he'd react if his comments were right and Kise was truly falling for him. He would be happy, but at the same time he'd feel a little lonely. He always had when Kise started dating someone. It was something he never told Kise, because he truly wanted his friend to find happiness without him. But Takao couldn't help but get the feeling in the pit of his stomach - a fear of Kise leaving him for good one day.

He supposed that's why he was a little easy when it came to men. Takao was thankful that Kise never seemed to notice this, but whenever Kise had a new girlfriend, the amount of times Takao would go out to the club increased and that also increased the amount of random men he would go home with. He knew that deep down inside he was afraid of being left alone and would often go out by himself when Kise had a date without his friend knowing. If Kise had ever found out he'd be devastated - Takao never wanted his best friend to feel responsible for his insecurities.

Unfortunately, that was a cycle that never stopped for Takao, and he knew it still continued the moment his friend came home from work and asked if it was alright for Kuroko to come over that Saturday to help him go over his lines.

"Kurokocchi said he's free on Saturday and agreed to help me practice my lines for an important scene we'll be shooting next week. I said he could come over to our place and he said that it was fine," Kise continued his explanation. "I'm a little nervous... its the first romantic scene and it even has a kiss scene it - ah, don't worry, I won't force Kurokocchi to practice that part with me!" Kise laughed and smiled warmly, a slight blush on his cheeks.

Takao knew his friend too well. Even if Kise hadn't realized it yet, he could tell his friend was falling in love. He was a little surprised - it ended up being his assistant and not Momoi. Kise had dated a few men outside of Takao, believe it or not, but his taste tended to mostly be beautiful people - just like him. Not to say that Kuroko wasn't attractive either - even Takao had developed a bit of a crush because of how cute he found him, but the smile on Kise's face was all that was needed to confirm for Takao that his friend was indeed becoming smitten.

"Riiight," Takao said jokingly, not paying much attention to the game he was playing on his 3DS at that point. "Well, I actually have something to do all day Saturday and I might crash at Miyaji's afterward, so you two can have the place to yourselves."

"Huh, really? Alright, I'm sure Kurokocchi will miss you," Kise's ears reddened a little and Takao could tell that Kise was secretly happy to be alone with his assistant.

"I'll just see Kuroko-chan when he comes to pick you up the next time you're late. Besides, I wouldn't be much help when you two are practicing," Takao smiled.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Kise nodded in agreement.

"Well, I'm gonna head to bed. I've got work early in the morning before going out with Miyaji. You two behave yourselves while I'm gone, alright?" Takao teased as he stood up from the couch.

"We aren't going to do anything bad..." Kise mumbled, averting his eyes away from Takao.

Takao let out a soft laugh, "Good night, Ryou-chan."

"Night, Kazucchi."

* * *

"Shit!"

Takao shoved his phone into his pocket after calling Miyaji for what seemed like the millionth time. Even that small action sent a dull pain through his body. He really was in bad shape.

"I'm such an idiot," his voice cracked as he wiped at the dampness of his eyes. "I'm so stupid..." He repeated insult after insult over and over again to himself. "Why did I have to go to a hotel with a guy like that...?"

Takao rubbed at his wrists that were now bruised with purple and red. He sat at bench in seedy park, the night air already cold with the approach of fall.

As per usual, Takao found himself going to Nichome to forget about everything. There were a lot nicer bars he could've picked, but of course he went and just picked the first one he ran into. A few drinks in him and a relatively handsome guy giving him the eye was all it took for Takao to end up in a situation like this.

Its not like he never tried BDSM or bondage before, but this guy seemed like all he wanted to do was torture Takao. He was rough and seemed to have no concern for the pain he was putting him in. And it wasn't like Takao could do much, bound and gagged with no way of stopping him. No safe word and no safe practices - it should've been obvious from the start, but the only thing on Takao's mind was to fuck and forget everything.

Luckily, after it was all over, the man decided he was through and left Takao in the room. Although battered and bruised, he seemed to be done with him.

Now Takao was sitting outside the park of the hotel. The trains had already stopped running and he hadn't seen a single taxi come by. His first instinct was to call Miyaji to come pick him up, but it seemed like his friend had other plans than picking up his phone when Takao needed him most.

Takao considered just calling for a taxi, but where would he go? He definitely couldn't go back home - if Kuroko was still there... that would mean that Kise's night probably went well. He couldn't bring himself to ruin that for him. On top of that, he didn't want Kise to worry about him. If Kise found out what happened, he would probably take time off work for as long as he could. He didn't want that.

His last option was to get a hotel, but he was short on money since it hadn't been pay day yet and he spent quite a lot of money on rent and a stupid new game system.

There was no one else left to call. He didn't want to call his other friends who wouldn't be as understanding as Miyaji or Kise. Takao figured his only option would be to sleep out in the park until the trains started running again. Maybe he'd find a way to get Kise out of the house in the morning so he could sneak in and fix himself up.

Takao dug his phone out of his pocket again, scrolling through his contacts. His eyes lingered on one name. No, he couldn't do that to him. They had just gotten on good terms, this would ruin everything.

But as if Takao had no control over his actions, his finger pressed the call button and he slowly brought the phone up to his ear.

The ringing seemed to go on forever, he was almost positive that no one would answer, but his breath hitched as he heard someone on the other line pick up.

"Do you realize what time it is?" A very tired, gruff voice answered the phone. The sound of shuffling bedsheets could be heard.

Takao froze up, he could hardly believed that there was a voice on the other side of the phone. The words he wanted to say caught in his throat.

"... Hello?"

Takao mustered up all he could to speak.

"Shin-chan..." he said softly, his voice cracking.

Midorima remained silent, as if waiting for an explanation.

"I... really got myself into some trouble... is there any possible way you can come get me? ...I'm sorry, Shin-chan..." Takao felt a clenching in his throat as a tear rolled down his face. He was embarrassed to have to do something like this.

Takao could hear Midorima let out a deep sigh. He prepared himself for rejection.

"Where are you?" Takao could hear the sheets rustling once again as well as some dull clattering.

"... Is it alright? Can you really come?" Takao asked in disbelief.

"I already asked where you are, isn't it obvious that I can come get you?" Midorima let out a huff.

Takao smiled despite how he was feeling. Midorima really was a good guy, whether people believe it or not. He told Midorima where he was. The other man paused for a moment before giving a confirmation that he'd arrive as quickly as possible. Takao probably figured there were already so many questions running through his head and it was amazing that he was still willing to come get him.

The time he had waited for Midorima to come get him was mostly lost as Takao closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on something else other than the dull pain throughout his body. The vibration of his phone snapped him back as he saw that it was a message from Midorima simply saying 'I'm here'.

Takao lifted himself off of the bench, luckily no one had bothered him the whole time he had been there, and walked out near the street to find Midorima. He found him leaning against a small car parked in one of the parallel parking spots that ran along the road.

"Sorry to cause so much trouble..." Takao said once Midorima had noticed him there.

"A simple sorry isn't going to cut it," Midorima said sharply, pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose. He gave a slightly annoyed huff, "Get in."

Takao nodded silently as Midorima got into the driver's side without a word.

By the way he was acting, Takao figured Midorima was probably far from happy with him. But he couldn't be completely angry or else he wouldn't have come pick him up... right?

"I didn't know you had a car - considering I always see you walking everywhere," Takao attempted to make some small talk.

"It's my parents," Midorima said shortly, starting up the car and stepping on the gas.

"Oh, I'm sorry, again, you had to borrow your parent's car because I got myself in trouble," Takao let out a bit of nervous laughter. He was being such a burden.

"They trust me so they lend it to me whenever I need it," Midorima replied.

That was about the extent of their conversation as the rest of the ride home was oddly quiet. Fortunately, it wasn't also incredibly awkward. Well, maybe just a tad. Takao could feel himself getting tired, but then he realized - where was he going to stay?

"Um, do you think you could drop me off at school, maybe? I'm thinking there's a possibility they might have the library open since during the weekday its open 24 hours-"

"I'm taking you back to my place, don't worry," Midorima interrupted.

"Huh?! I couldn't possibly-"

"You don't want to go back to your place, right?"

Midorima seemed to have been a lot more observant than Takao had let on. The words caught in his throat.

"I won't force you to tell me everything that happened, but obviously you weren't planning on going home tonight considering you woke me up at two in the morning," Midorima sounded annoyed but there was a tinge of worry to his voice.

"Yeah, you're right... You really are smart, Shin-chan," Takao could feel the tears begin to well up in his eyes again. He sniffed back a sob - he didn't want Midorima to worry any more than he already was. "I'll... tell you everything once we get back..."

Takao wasn't sure if this was such a good idea, but he just made his friend drive out to a park in the outskirts of Nichome - he owed him an explanation.

Midorima simply gave a grunt and nodded in response. Takao felt oddly relaxed after getting the feeling that Midorima was a surprisingly accepting guy. He was already so kind to him. No one realized this about Midorima just because he was a bit anti-social and didn't know how to deal with people very well. And before he knew it he had nodded off to sleep.

* * *

It wasn't much later when Takao was being nudged awake. In a daze, he managed to stumble his way into Midorima's house and upstairs to his bedroom.

"I'll get a bath started," Midorima said before quickly leaving the room. He had asked Takao to take a seat on his bed.

Takao rubbed at his eyes and examined the room he was in. As he thought, Midorima's room was kept very tidy and neat. Everything seemed in order and not a single thing was out of place. Although there were several strange and weird things strewn about - most likely various lucky items.

He had to hesitate the temptation to get up and mess about with some things, but good thing he had stayed in place because a few minutes later Midorima came back in.

"The bath is ready, its downstairs on the left. I'll lend you some clothes to change into. Leave your dirty clothes out and I'll wash them in the morning," Midorima talked in a calm, steady voice.

"Thanks, Shin-chan," Takao attempted a weak smile. "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry I have to cause so much trouble..."

Midorima let out an almost annoyed huff, "Its a little too late now to keep apologizing. Now go take a bath."

Takao nodded a confirmation and made his way out of the room.

Once he had gingerly taken his clothes off in the changing room, he walked into the bathroom and began scrubbing his body off underneath the shower. As he wiped away at his body it felt as if he were scrubbing off all of the filth from that night. Even if he wasn't caked in dirt, it felt like he was caked in something just as nasty. Takao wished he didn't have such destructive behavior - his life was filled with blessings yet he still did things like this to himself. If only he wasn't so afraid of being alone...

Once he finished washing off his body, he slowly lowered himself into the hot bath, letting out a sigh of relief as he felt the water soak into his skin, taking away the last bits of uncleanliness off of him. Takao let out another sigh, his aching body felt a lot better being relaxed by the pleasant temperature of the water. Letting a lot of the pressure off of his body felt good as well.

He closed his eyes, trying not to think too much of the night, but couldn't help but think of how kind Midorima was. He definitely owed him now, that was a fact. He felt it a shame that so many other people missed out on the opportunity to get to know a person like him.

Once Takao felt like he might doze off from the steam and heat, he decided it was time to get out. As Midorima stated, there was a change of clothes neatly folded for him to change into in the dressing room. Takao slipped them on - a little baggy. They also smelled a lot like Midorima. They must be his clothes.

Takao made his way up to the stairs, finding the door to Midorima's room open and the lights shut off. He saw Midorima laying out a futon by the dull light of his desk lamp.

"You'll take the bed," Midorima stated simply. He was wearing a pair of pajamas with little prints of frogs on them. A little too cutesy for a man his age (where did he find a size to fit him, even?) but it oddly suited him.

"I'm already imposing too much, I can't take the bed," Takao shook his head.

"You're body isn't well so there's no way I, someone studying to be a doctor, can allow that," Midorima said with finality as he turned off the light and knelt down to get into the futon.

Takao's mouth open and closed as he Midorima pull the covers over him. That was that, then. There really was no arguing with Midorima once he had made up his mind.

Takao shuffled over to Midorima's bed and got in. It was quite comfortable.

"Thanks so much, Shin-chan. Really, I'm not sure what I would've done without you," Takao said in a quiet voice, looking at Midorima whose back was facing him.

"Mhm," he heard Midorima faintly respond.

Takao paused for a moment before continuing. "I said I'd explain what happened tonight, so, do you mind if I do that right now?"

Takao waited for a moment for Midorima's response, but he gave no answer. He assumed that since he didn't get a negative one it was okay for him to continue.

"I..." Takao took a deep breath. "I wanted to get out of the house. Ryou-chan had a guest over and I really didn't want to bother them. I feel like Ryou-chan was really falling for this person, so I didn't want to get in the way. Anyway... I guess I kind of... found myself in a not-so-good part of town..." Takao gave a slightly nervous chuckle. "Um, you're probably wondering why you picked me up in a park near Nichome, right?"

Again, Midorima gave no response.

"...Well, I was, you know, looking for a guy to hook up with... You probably find that gross, right? To find out that not only am I gay but I just hook up for fun..."

But Midorima remained quiet.

"Uh, well, he was not very nice with me. I guess its kinda my fault because I approached him and suggested we go back to a hotel, but... I didn't know he was going to be such a psycho, shit..." Takao let out another sigh. "So when I finally got away from that scary guy, I didn't know what I was going to do since it was so late. I couldn't call Ryou-chan, I couldn't bring myself to ruin his night. One of my best friends wasn't picking up, I was running out of options, and when I felt like there was no hope I saw your name in my phone... and I just kind of pressed the call button..." Takao's voice trailed off as his eyes lingered on the back of Midorima's head. "I guess I just thought, 'Shin-chan will definitely help me...' or something."

Takao's eyes remained on Midorima who seemed not to react to anything he said. Was he asleep? Did he just tell this whole story to a sleeping man? He was about to turn around and just forget everything he said until another voice finally sounded.

"Are you feeling alright?" Midorima's calm voice filled the quiet room.

Takao was a bit surprised that that's what his question was after all that explaining. "Y-Yeah, the bath really helped relax me."

"Good," Midorima said, taking off his glasses and setting it on the chair at his desk that was beside him. "Good night, then." He brought the blankets up closer to him.

"... Good night." Takao said quietly. He didn't realize how heavy his eyelids had gotten as they shut almost instantly.

* * *

Again, Takao was being woken up. But not with a gentle nudge.

"Takao, get up," Midorima's booming voice broke the comforting realm of sleep.

"Nn..." Takao groaned and rubbed his eyes. The room was unusually bright.

"I have your clothes washed for you, so hurry up and get dressed and come down stairs."

Takao blinked a few times to a see a slightly blurry vision of Midorima already dressed and awake.

"Mmnngg..." Was all Takao could managed to say in conformation.

Midorima was out of the room before Takao could wake himself up enough to get out of bed. Sure enough, his clothes were cleaned and folded on Midorima's desk.

"What time is it?" He mumbled out loud to himself. He checked his phone that he had left on the night stand to see that not only was it eight in the morning, but he had plenty of missed calls and messages on his phone.

"Huh?" He checked his missed calls list to see them all from Miyaji.

He guessed maybe it wasn't such a good idea to silence his phone before he went to sleep the previous night.

The first message was Miyaji explaining why he hadn't been able to pick up. Apparently he was helping at the school his mom taught at - the school was holding a sleepover for the kids and he helped chaperone it. He left his phone at home and didn't get back until early that morning so that was the reason he never answered. Then the messages just got progressively more and more worried as he had listened to Takao's voicemails of needing 'help'.

"Dammit, Takao! You better call me back as soon as possible or else I'm gonna worry, shit!" Despite the worried message his voice sounded angry. Well, more like a worried parent.

Takao chuckled and quickly typed out a message. He was at least glad to know Miyaji wasn't ignoring him after all. So he was officially off of his shit list.

'Really sorry to worry you. I ended up getting someone else to pick me up. I'll call you when I get back to my place.'

After sending the message, Takao quickly got up to get dressed.

He walked down the stairs and could hear a bit of noise from the kitchen. He made his way over and stopped suddenly, feeling a bit awkward at the sight he saw in front of him.

"Oh, hello, dear. You must be Shintarou's friend," a kind and beautiful looking woman greeted him right away. "We're finishing up breakfast but we've left some for you. We would've let you eat with us but Shintarou insisted you get a bit more sleep," she looked over at her son who was fixing a plate for Takao and smiled.

"Ah, thank you so much. Sorry for the inconvenience," Takao bowed slightly.

"Oh, its no trouble at all!" His mother shook her head. "Please, have a seat."

Midorima's father also seemed to be there. He looked quite stoic and didn't seem to have much to say. Takao could tell Midorima got a lot from his father, including his looks.

Takao saw that the empty seat was next to a younger girl who seemed like she was around the age of six, presumably Midorima's little sister.

"Its nice to meet you all, my name is Takao Kazunari," he wasn't sure how much Midorima had told them about him.

Midorima's father nodded while his mother smiled again.

"And what's your name?" Takao said with a smile directed at the younger girl at the table.

"... Aiko..." she said shyly, avoiding eye contact with Takao.

"Oh, such a pretty name for a pretty girl!" Takao said cheerily.

"Th-Thank you..." She blushed up to her ears.

' _If only Shin-chan acted this cute,'_  he thought.

Everyone seemed finished with their breakfast at this point and they were all dressed as well.

"Well, I'm sorry to rush off as soon as we've met you, Takao-kun, but we have a lot of errands to run," Mrs. Midorima stood up from her chair, her husband doing the same. "It was so nice to meet you, though! It's so rare that Shintarou brings guests over!" She seemed very pleased with the situation. Her husband nodded a confirmation.

Midorima came around to the table and set a plate of food in front of Takao.

"Likewise! It was a pleasure to meet Shin-chan's family," Takao said casually and he could hear Midorima's voice seize up next to him as if he was about to just scold him.

"Ohohoh!" Mrs. Midorima let out a laugh. "You have a nickname for Shintarou, how nice! You two must be very close - you must come over more often then!"

"Heh, if you'd have me..." Takao rubbed the back of his neck. He caught a glimpse of Midorima's slightly seething face. He mentally apologized to his friend for letting the nickname slip.

"Aiko, are you coming along?" Mrs. Midorima called out as she made her way to the door.

"Umm..." She hesitated for a moment. "Can I stay home with nii-chan?"

"If that's alright with Shintarou?" She looked over at her son.

"Its fine, I'll look after her," Midorima seemed to have calmed down a bit.

"Alright, behave yourselves, then!"

Both of his parents left with a wave and Midorima let out a sigh.

"Sorry about that, Shin-chan~," Takao said with a cheeky grin.

"You don't seem sorry," he huffed, sitting back down at the table.

"I'm going to go get something from my room," Aiko announced and left the table.

"Aiko, you have to take your dishes to the sink!" Midorima said after her.

"I'm coming back!" She shouted as she ran up the stairs.

Takao chuckled. "She's really cute, hard to believe she's your sister. Your mother is also really sweet. You're totally your father's son, though."

"Yes, its clear which parent we inherited our traits from," Midorima responded. "Besides that, how are you feeling this morning?"

Takao swallowed his food, "You really are treating me like a patient, huh?"

"I'm just wondering how your body is doing," Midorima shrugged.

"It's a bit achy, but nothing to worry about," Takao replied.

"That's good..." Midorima said quietly.

"You really did a lot for me though, thank you," Takao said with a sincere smile.

"It wasn't much..." Midorima mumbled, shifting his eyes away.

The sound of small feet descending the stairs suddenly sounded in the air.

"Um, how is my hair?"

Both Midorima and Takao looked over to see that Aiko had put her hair up in pigtails.

"Its very nice," Midorima said without much thought.

"Oh! Aiko looks super cute now!" Takao exclaimed.

Aiko's face reddened again as her eyes darted towards the floor and she clutched her hands together.

"Really?" She said, looking towards her feet.

"Mhm!" Takao nodded. "Don't you think your brother would look cute with pigtails too?"

"What?" Midorima furrowed his brow.

"Huh? Eww, nii-chan would not look cute!" Aiko's cheeks puffed out a bit.

"Well, definitely not as cute as Aiko, but I still think Shin-chan needs a makeover," Takao looked at Midorima with a cunning expression

"I do not need a makeover!" Midorima made to stand up from his chair.

"Hurry, Aiko! I'll hold him down while you go get your hair bows!" Takao stood up and tackled Midorima to his chair.

Aiko giggled as she seemed on board with the idea and ran back up to her room.

"What are you doing, Takao!" Midorima struggled to get out of Takao's grip.

"Come on! I'll do it too! Let's have some fun and keep your sister company since she was so adamant on staying home with her big brother," Takao grinned.

"Uhg, fine! Now let go of me!" Midorima slapped at Takao's arms around him.

"Nope! You might run away if I do," Takao shook his head.

"I won't!"

"Yes you will!"

"I have everything!" Aiko came running back down the stairs happily. Takao was glad it was so easy to get her to open up and out of her shyness.

"Great! Time for Shin-chan's makeover," Takao finally let go of his grip on Midorima.

"Let's go to the couch, nii-chan is too tall for me to reach," Aiko grabbed a hold of Midorima's hand and tugged.

"F-Fine," Midorima reluctantly got up and followed his sister.

Takao giggled at the fact that Midorima seemed to give into his sister easily. He followed the siblings into the living room where Aiko set down her box of hair things. Midorima sat down on the couch with a slightly grumpy look on his face.

"Okay, we're going to give you a makeover so you can't look until I'm done," she instructed her brother.

"Alright," he said monotone.

"I'll hold your things for you," Takao announced as he picked up the box.

"Thank you, assistant," Aiko seemed to really be into it now.

She got out a few hair ties and gathered up a bit of hair on the side of Midorima's hair.

"Too bad your hair isn't longer," Takao commented.

"I don't want it long," Midorima replied sharply.

Aiko twisted the hair around the hair tie, Midorima winced a little as she pulled on his hair.

"I think this bow will look good on him, Miss Aiko!" Takao held out a pink bow that he had found.

"Good job, assistant!" She said, grabbing the bow and clipping it onto the bit of hair that was tied up.

They repeated the other side much the same way.

"I think the customer should also have his bangs clipped back with a bow as well!" Takao announced.

Aiko placed her finger on her chin, looking at her work so far and nodded, "I think that is also a good idea."

She picked out a bigger pink bow with a clip and used it to clip back Midorima's bangs.

"Bahaha! Shin-chan, you look so cute! You should go to class tomorrow like this!" Takao guffawed and doubled over.

"Nii-chan is beautiful!" Aiko commented.

Midorima grumbled under his breath with his eyes closed. "Can I take this out yet?"

Before he got a response he heard a clicking noise.

"Did you just take a picture!?" Midorima's eyes shot open as he saw Takao with his phone out.

"Um, nooo?" Takao hid his phone behind his back.

"Delete that, now!" Midorima got up, preparing to fight to the death to make sure that picture was out of existence.

"Nooo, please, let me keep it!" Takao avoided Midorima grabbing for his phone. "I'll let you take a picture of me in exchange!"

"I don't need a picture of you!" Midorima growled as he kept grabbing for Takao's phone all across the living room.

"Don't bully Takao-kun!" He sister came up to them and pushed at her brother.

"I'm not bullying him, I'm trying to get him to delete the picture!" He retorted.

"Why do you want to delete it so badly? Do you not like the makeover your sister gave you?" Takao crossed his arms.

"Yeah, does nii-chan not like it?" Aiko frowned.

"N-No, but..." Midorima looked between Takao and his sister.

Aiko began to pout a little.

"Fine! But show anyone else and I'll kill you!" Midorima threatened.

"Yay!" Takao celebrated his victory. Thank goodness for Midorima's weakness to his sister. "Alright, my turn! He said happily, sitting himself down on the couch.

Aiko nodded and began her work. Takao decided to go with orange for his hair ties and she gave him the same hairdo as Midorima.

"Done!" Aiko said, please with her work.

Takao looked into her little toy mirror.

"Ahaha! I look awesome! Thanks, Aiko" he praised.

She smiled with a slight blush on her face.

"Alright, now you can take a picture of me too, Shin-chan," Takao posed on the couch.

"Don't want to," Midorima said shortly. He still had his hair done up at his sister's request.

"Aww, but then it won't be even!" Takao pouted. "Here, give me your phone and I'll do it myself," he said, holding out his hand.

Midorima sighed, taking his phone out of his pocket and handing it to Takao.

Holding up a peace sign and wearing a huge grin, Takao snapped a picture of himself.

"Alright, let's get one of all three of us!" Takao said happily.

"Yay!" Aiko jumped up on the couch right next to Takao.

"Come on, Shin-chan!" Takao patted the spot on the other side of him.

Midorima reluctantly, but without complaining, came over to sit next to Takao.

"Smile everyone~," Takao said.

Aiko clung onto Takao's arm as he held out the phone to take the picture. After the picture was taken, Takao checked the preview.

"Aww, nii-chan isn't smiling!" Aiko commented.

"It's alright, Aiko-chan, your brother already did a lot by playing with us," Takao commented.

Aiko seemed please enough with the addition of '-chan' to her name and decided to let it slide.

"I can take these out now, then?" Midorima said, already tugging at one of the bows.

"Yeahhh I guess you can, party pooper," Takao said, fiddling on Midorima's phone. Aiko leaned up against Takao and watched on.

"Now what are you doing?" Midorima said after yanking a bow out.

"Sending the picture to my phone, of course!" Takao said, pressing send. "I obviously want a copy for myself." He handed the phone over to Midorima when he was finished.

"Takao-kun," Aiko spoke up.

"Yes, Aiko-chan?" He replied, looking over at her.

"What happened to your wrists?" She pointed to Takao's hands.

He must've forgotten about it, but the bruises from last night were still present on his wrists.

"Ah..."

"Aiko, don't be so nosy!" Midorima said sharply.

Takao felt Aiko jump a bit at her brother's loud voice. "I'm sorry..." she mumbled in a quiet voice.

"I-Its okay, Aiko-chan! Shin-chan, you didn't have to yell..." Takao attempted to keep Aiko from crying, judging by the tears that started to well up in her eyes. "I just got a little hurt while I was playing around with a friend and it got a little too rough, that's all. I'll be fine!" Takao patted her head.

Aiko nodded and seemed to be feeling a little better.

"Sorry, Aiko... I didn't mean to yell," Midorima said quietly.

"Its okay, nii-chan," she said, getting up from the couch. "I'll go put my dishes away now."

The two watched her walk off.

"I know you were just trying to help me Shin-chan, so thanks," Takao commented after she left the room.

"I still shouldn't have yelled at her for something like that," Midorima sighed.

Takao began taking out the things in his hair. "You really love her though, huh?"

"Of course, she's my sister," Midorima said matter-of-factly.

"Heh, of course," Takao smiled. "I should probably get going soon, though. I don't want to worry Ryou-chan too much. And don't worry - you don't have to take me back, the station isn't too far from here."

"Before you go, come with me for a moment," Midorima stood up from the couch.

"Hm? Alright..." Takao got up and followed.

"Your brother and Takao need to be alone for a little bit, so don't come into my room. Alright, Aiko?" Midorima said as they passed the kitchen.

"Okay..." Aiko said with a sad tone in her voice.

"Ohhh, what are we going to be doing in your room all alone?" Takao joked as Midorima shut the door behind them.

"Sit," Midorima pointed to the chair at his desk, ignoring Takao's question.

Takao obeyed and watched Midorima rifle through a few drawers. After a bit, he saw a couple things of what seemed to be some sort of make-up in his hands as he approached Takao.

"Huh, are we continuing the makeover? Sorry, I already took out my hairdo," Takao said as he watched Midorima kneel down on the floor.

"Not quite," Midorima grabbed one of Takao's arms. "I'm going to cover these up for you. You don't want Kise to worry, right?"

"Yeah..." Takao was a bit taken aback as he watched Midorima unscrew the top of a jar and dab a bit of the make-up onto a sponge.

Takao watched intently as Midorima gingerly dabbed the concealer onto this bruise. He could tell he was trying to be gentle as to not hurt him - even his grip was light.

"So... you just have make-up lying around?" Takao commented.

"I used to do plays in school," Midorima responded. "I got used to doing my own make-up for them."

"That's amazing!" Takao couldn't see Midorima showing much emotion so it was hard to imagine him acting. "I would love to see you do a play, are you in the drama club at the university?"

"I haven't gotten around to signing up for it, I feel like it might interfere too much with my studies," Midorima set down the sponge and got out a powder.

"That's a shame, I was hoping I could see Shin-chan act," Takao said as a slight cloud of powder formed around his wrist.

"Maybe I'll pick it up again one day..." Midorima said, a little forlorn. "Done with this one."

Takao lifted up his wrist to get a better look.

"Wow, this is amazing! Maybe you could also be a make-up artist," Takao said with a laugh.

"Hmph," Midorima let out a slight chuckle.

Takao's eyes widened a bit at the ever so subtle smile on Midorima's face. He remained quiet as he watched Midorima tend to his other wrist. Still gentle and precise, his grip wasn't firm but it still felt strong. His fingers weren't taped and for the first time Takao could admire how slim and pristine they were. They even felt soft against his arm.

The moment felt almost intimate as Midorima's fingers moved slightly against Takao's arm to adjust the angle he had of his wrist. Takao almost felt like he could get addicted to Midorima simply touching him.

"I don't think you're disgusting," after a few moments of silence, Midorima spoke up.

"Huh?" Takao wasn't expecting Midorima to say anything.

"Last night, you said I probably think you're disgusting. I don't," Midorima's eyes remained on his work. "Everyone is different, I cannot say that there is anything wrong with the preferences you feel are natural to you. Although, I do find it quite irresponsible of you to do such things with strangers. You need to take better care of yourself."

Takao was speechless for a moment, he noticed that his mouth was slightly agape before snapping it closed.

"That's so like you to say such a thing, Shin-chan," Takao let out a relieved laugh. Midorima paid attention to what he was saying after all.

Silence fell over them again as Midorima began to powder his wrist. When he was done, Takao almost felt a little sad that it was over.

"Thanks, Shin-chan. It looks like there was never anything there," Takao admired his wrists and Midorima's work.

"No problem," Midorima got up and returned the make-up to his drawer. "I would insist to take you home, but my parents took the car. I can at least walk you to the station.

"No, no. You've already done way too much for me," Takao shook his head. "Besides, you need to look after Aiko-chan."

"She can come with us," Midorima shrugged. "It's only about a ten minute walk."

Takao couldn't help but feel happy about that suggestion.

"Alright," he smiled.

"Come on, Aiko, let's take Takao to the train station," Midorima called out as they descended to the stairs.

"Noooo, I don't want Takao-kun to leave!" Aiko frowned.

"Its okay, I'll come see Aiko-chan again. Definitely!" Takao patted her head.

"Promise?" She looked up with hopeful eyes.

"I promise," Takao placed a hand over his heart.

"Okay..." Aiko seemed satisfied for now.

"Come over here so I can put your shoes on Aiko," Midorima called over from the door.

"I can do it myself!" She said confidently as she marched over and plopped down to put her shoes on.

"Ohh, impressive!" Takao commented as he slipped his own shoes on.

The three left the house, Midorima making sure Aiko had a jacket on, and headed towards the station.

"Hold my hand, Aiko," Midorima reached his hand down.

"I want to hold Takao-kun's hand..." She said shyly.

"Why don't you hold both our hands?" Takao suggested, holding out his hand as well.

"Okay!" Aiko said gleefully, grabbing both of their hands. "Lift me up! Lift me up!"

"I don't think-"

"Alright! On three!" Takao interrupted and began the countdown. "One, two, three!"

With no other choice, Midorima helped Takao lift Aiko up into the air as she giggled with glee.

"That was fun!" She said as they set her back down.

Takao looked over at Midorima with a smile and saw that he was smiling as well. Midorima was so handsome when he smiled, Takao wondered why he didn't do it more often.

Their entire walk to the station was spent entertaining Aiko enough to not let go of their hands. When they arrived at the station she went back to being a bit somber.

"Bye, Takao-kun," she said, looking down at her shoes.

"Bye, bye, Aiko-chan," Takao knelt down and rubbed her head. "Let's play some more next time!"

Aiko nodded her head, mustering up a smile.

"See you tomorrow, Shin-chan," Takao stood back up, his eyes settling on Midorima.

"Yes, make sure you come to class prepared this time?" Midorima commented.

"Of course," Takao laughed. "And thank you... again. Really, you're a great friend."

"You're welcome," Midorima said simply with a nod, now it was his turn for his ears to turn a slight red.

Takao looked down at his phone. "Ah, I really have to get going, bye!" He waved as he ran off. He could hear Aiko shouting 'bye' as he went through the gates.

Takao managed to make it on his train just in time and let out a sigh once he settled in his seat. He closed his eyes as he thought of the eventful morning he had. Meeting Midorima's family, playing makeover with Aiko, being tended to by Midorima...

Just thinking about Midorima's hands on his skin sent a slight shiver down his spine. If he could have it his way, he'd probably want Midorima to tend to his wrists every day.

"Heh..." Takao could feel his cheeks burning slightly. "Damn..." he whispered under his breath.

* * *

"Oh, I didn't hear you come home," Kise said from the living room as Takao plopped onto the couch next to him.

"Too lost in your thoughts?" Takao nudged Kise.

"Ah, maybe..." Kise laughed a little nervously. "Have fun with Miyaji?"

"Oh yeah, I actually ended up staying at Shin-chan's place," Takao figured as long as Kise didn't know the  _why_  of it, it was alright to tell him some of the truth.

"Wow, I never thought that'd happen. Midorimacchi doesn't seem to be the type to have people stay over," Kise seemed impressed.

"So... How was your practice with Kuroko-chan?" Takao asked, his eyes darted towards Kise's neck and collar bone. ' _Hickies? None that I can see. Although Kuroko-chan might not be the type to leave any. But Kise definitely is. I'll have to remember to check Kuroko-chan the next time I see him.'_

"Ah, it went great," Kise's eyes shifted away from Takao as he ran a hand through his hair. "I feel like I made some good progress."

"Oh yeah?" Takao said, a bit suggestively.

"Um, yep," Kise gave a pretty fake smile. Takao hoped he wasn't giving such a lame smile for the drama.

"You must be tired though. I bet you hardly got any sleep," Kise was quick to change the subject.

"Yeah, I got up pretty early too. Might go take a nap," Takao got up and stretched.

"Go ahead, I have some things I need to run over to the agency for a bit anyway. How about we hit up our bar later?" Kise suggested.

"Sounds great," Takao patted Kise's shoulder as he stood behind the couch.

Maybe he'd get Kise drunk enough to give him the full story about what happened the previous day. And maybe he could get himself drunk enough to forget about the strange feeling that had been balling up in his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for being patient with this chapter! It ended up being quite long, but I guess you guys deserve it for waiting, right? As you could tell, this chapter was very MidoTaka-centric so expect a KiKuro one next time! I'm sure some people are curious as to how their day went. (: Takao seems to be going through a lot, poor thing, but he can always manage to smile. Also, I made guesswork of what Midorima's sister's name is. I don't think her real name is ever stated sooo I picked one for her!
> 
> Thank you so much for all the support I've been getting for this story, and see you next time! :*


	9. Chapter 9

Takao was thoughtful enough to leave the house to Kise for the night, but he couldn't get himself to sit still as he stood up and sat down on the couch for what seemed like a thousand times. His mind was constantly trying to occupy itself with other thoughts, because right now he was feeling unnecessarily nervous.

Kuroko had come over plenty times, he had also gone over his lines with Kuroko a ton. So why now of all days was his heart racing like a school girl on her first date? It might have to do with the fact that he was so nervous about acting this scene out for real in only a couple days - it was his first kiss scene after all.

... But there was also finally a chance for him to be truly alone with Kuroko. They were rarely alone, even when practicing Kise's lines they were usually at the office with Kasamatsu coming in and out as he pleased.

Kise shook his arms as if to shake the nerves away. It was just Kuroko - his assistant, his friend. But ignoring the way Kuroko caught his attention and made him feel a little giddier was futile to ignore. To put it simply - it was complicated.

A knock on the door signaled that time was up and it was now or never for Kise to shake it off and deal with the situation face on.

With a deep breath and one last quick check of his attire, he reached for the doorknob. Pulling the door open, he nearly held his breath as he looked at his guest that was on the other side of the door.

"Good evening, Kise-kun," Kuroko greeted as he usually would.

"Hey, Kurokocchi!" Kise smiled a bit nervously but kept his cool.

After Kuroko was invited in, Kise signaled for him to have a seat on the couch.

"I've got some things to eat while we practiced. I figured you might get hungry. Ah, can I get you a beer?" Kise tried to be a good host for his esteemed guest.

"Oolong tea is fine," Kuroko replied.

"Got it," Kise said in a cheery tone.

He grabbed some of the snacks, tea , and a beer for himself. He probably shouldn't drink too much, but he needed something to settle his nerves, so one can should be fine.

"How much do you need to go over?" Kuroko asked as Kise walked back out.

"Um, I really need to go over almost the entirety of the next episode we're filming..."

Kise felt like he should choose his next words carefully, because at that moment Kuroko was narrowing his eyes and there was no telling what he though of Kise's response.

"I-I know my lines pretty well, but going over them with you just makes me feel better about it," Kise gave himself a pat on the back for that one.

Kuroko's eyes lingered on him for a moment, then settled onto the script in his hands. "Well I said I'd go over whatever you wanted to today, so I can't really do much about that."

"You're a huge help, Kurokocchi, I'll make sure Kasamatsu-san does something for you," Kise smiled. "And maybe I can help you with something another time? Maybe with your homework."

Kuroko eyed Kise again, "I don't think I'd want you helping me with that, but thank you."

"Eh? I'm pretty smart, you know!" Kise pouted a little.

"I'm sure you are... in your own way," Kuroko said quietly as he flipped through the pages.

"Kurokocchi is kind of mean sometimes!" Kise nudged Kuroko playfully and chuckled a bit.

Kuroko's casual demeanor was enough to put Kise at ease. He he was brutally honest and straight to the point, but Kise figured that was something that was kind of charming about his young assistant. After all, he was the person besides Takao that he had gotten the closest to and felt at ease with.

"So should we start?" Kuroko held up the script.

"Ah, yeah," Kise took a swig of his beer and set it down on the table, taking up his own script in hand and flipping it open.

The story so far had revealed that Momoi's character was actually the daughter of a man that not only owned a huge company, but also seemed to have some shady business on the side. Her attitude of a young, innocent woman completely changed when Kise's character was invited into her house after walking her home.

She was a woman with amazing instincts - she could tell that the man that had run into her was down and out. "Do you want to make some money?" She proposed as soon as the door closed behind them, her demeanor turning stern and gruff.

Basically, Tachibana Mariko's deal to Ryuzaki Ken was for him to pose as her fake boyfriend for a large sum of money that he obviously needed. The moment she saw Ryuzaki she knew this would be a man she could easily hook in. Her father had been on her back about marrying some no good scum-of-a-son to a business partner of her father's. All she wanted was to be left alone and rid herself of the image as her father's daughter, and there's no way she would do that if she were to agree to the marriage.

Ryuzaki not only agreed for the money, but he couldn't help but notice he had fallen in love at first sight, despite finding out her true nature. It only got worse as time went on. He was at her every beck and call to go on "dates" that were really just ruses to fool her father's brutes that would tail them to make sure nothing happened and to make sure they were actually together. She would act like the charming young lady he first met, but if he ever so much as tried to touch her he would get a sharp stiletto to the foot or his finger nearly broken off. And after the date she would just hand over some money and tell him not to contact her, she'd contact him. All the while Ryuzaki would confide in his best friend who was played by Moriyama, which he would never tell the full details to, but could pour his heart out over his woes of trying to get Mariko to like him.

The episode that they were filming now was to include another one of their dates at a theme park. Kise had become nervous about shooting this particular episode because this was the show's first sign of real intimacy between the characters. It was strange, he had romanced and wooed so many people before, but the thought of acting it out and it being filmed made his mind draw a blank.

"This place is boring, I'm not sure why you suggested it," Kuroko gave a small huff after reading the line.

"It just seemed like a typical date spot..." Kise mumbled quietly.

"Next time I pick the place! God, I have to even pay for these dates so I might as well go some place that's less like a barnyard!" Kuroko crossed his arms as the script suggested. Kise had to try not to laugh since his practice partner did it so nonchalantly. It really was a mystery as to when Kuroko would actually act out the actions or just read them aloud.

"Can't we just... I dunno...  _try_  to enjoy this?" Kise said meekly.

Kuroko narrowed his eyes, "How could I possibly enjoy this?"

"Err," Kise scratched his head. "How about we go on that?" Kise pointed his finger.

"Why on Earth would I want to ride some unsanitary, fake, horse when I can just buy my own real one?" Kuroko said with a 'hmph'.

"Maybe because your dad's guards seemed to have found us and they're standing right over there?" Kise whispered.

"Ah!" Kuroko looked around as if looking for the guards. "Oh, honey, I'd love to go on that!"

And so signaled the change of Mariko's attitude that she did way too well.

"Let's go then," Kise spoke up.

The script said next to grab Mariko's hand and Kise did so, lightly wrapping his fingers around Kuroko's hand. By now the both of them were relatively used to a bit of bodily contact since Kise liked acting out the actions when possible. So this was no big deal.

"This is the merry-go-round scene which has just dialogue from Mariko so I guess we can skip it?" Kise suggested and let go of Kuroko's hand.

"Mh, yeah, no need for me to go over the lines myself," Kuroko nodded in agreement and the both of them flipped a page.

The scene at the amusement park went on for a little while longer, mostly consisting of Mariko being unhappy about being there yet at the same time showing a bit of enjoyment. It was also like that with her - she would be adamantly against something but still do it or deny she liked it so much it made it obvious that she was lying to herself. That's what made Ryuzaki believe that maybe one day their relationship wouldn't have to be fake anymore. He even ended up kind of liking her stubbornness sometimes.

When they reached the end of the scene, Kise flipped through a few pages.

"Ah, actually after this its pretty much other scenes we're not in. Towards the end of the episode I think it skips to the end of the date," Kise commented.

It was a given that the story was a bit dynamic and had a good bit of scenes relating to other characters. But of course, they usually revolved around the main focal point of the story of Ryuzaki and Mariko.

"It seems that way, yes," Kuroko commented

The two had been there a couple hours now, going over scenes Kise need the most help in and making sure lines were flawless.

"Um, want to take a break? I can't believe we've been doing this for so long," Kise stretched his arms up.

"Yes, may I use your restroom?" Kuroko asked, standing up.

"Of course!" Kise responded. He watched Kuroko walk down the hall.

Kise looked back down at his script again, going over the last few pages. His stomach began to turn again as he realized the kiss scene was coming up soon. He knew he wasn't going to actually act that part out right now, but the thought that he'd have to do the real deal very soon made him nervous.

He thought that he'd probably enjoy doing these kinds of romantic scenes with a girl as pretty as Momoi, but the thought of them now were just down right terrifying. Maybe it was because of that scary cousin of hers? He always stared daggers into him, and if he were there for that day of filming, Kise was almost positive he'd never be able to get the scene done.

Kise inhaled and let out a long, steady breath. He'd be fine! It wasn't like it would be his first kiss. And Momoi had been in romance shows before - so she was already a pro at this. There really was no reason to be worrying at all, Kise told himself.

"I'm back," Kuroko's voice cut through the silence and Kise opened his eyes.

"Oh! I didn't hear you come back out here," Kise replied. "Well, how about we go out on the veranda to get some fresh air? We've been cooped up inside since you got here. We can practice the rest of the lines out there.

"That sounds great," Kuroko seemed to be welcome to the suggestion.

"Alright!" Kise smiled and led Kuroko out to the veranda.

The veranda was always a place he and Takao would go for long chats, so it held a lot of sentimental value. It was always nice to be able to look out into the city and pour their hearts out to each other, so he hoped it would have the same therapeutic affect with getting this script done right. Kise knew this would be the place he would miss most whenever he and Takao finally decided to go their separate ways... whenever that may be.

Kise cleared his throat as he sat down and flipped the script open again.

The scene picked up after the two decided to go on a Ferris wheel to end the night. They had been tailed by Mariko's father's henchman all day, so it was exhausting trying to remain civil with each other. Ryuzaki figured that going on the Ferris wheel would both be romantic enough and a chance to get to finally relax away from the watchful eyes.

"Finally, we'll be away from those guys. At least for a while," Kise said with a sigh.

"I swear, its like they're even more persistent than before," Kuroko said in a slightly annoyed tone.

"I guess because we've been doing this ruse for about a month now, so maybe they're starting to get suspicious," Kise suggested.

"Whatever it is, its annoying! If I wasn't trying to prove I could be independent to my father so badly, I would've demanded he call them off long ago," Kuroko said sternly.

Kise had realized it a while ago, but Kuroko was actually pretty good at acting. He wondered if he ever considered it as a career. But being a teacher suited him much better.

"Also, why are you sitting so close to me? The ride has already started - you can go sit over there," Kuroko pointed across from him.

"Hmm, I think I'm good over here," Kise shrugged.

"Excuse me?"

"Mari-chan-"

"Mariko."

"Mariko... can't we just get along a little more while we're alone together? I know this is basically just you paying me to pretend to be your boyfriend, but can't we... have a little fun?"

Kuroko paused as the script suggested and replied, "I just don't want to get too attached, that's all," he said quietly.

"Huh?" Kise said in surprise.

"I-I mean, I don't want YOU getting attached," Kuroko turned his head away.

Kise laughed, which wasn't in the script, and Kuroko turned back to face him.

"Ah..." He looked back down at his line. "Being attached isn't a bad thing, you know?"

"Yes it is. What will I do if you get in my way of making my own name? What if you just weigh me down? I can't have that," Kuroko said with finality.

"But what if I don't do any of that and just support you the best I can?" Kise smiled slightly and looked up at Kuroko.

Kuroko's eyes were settled on him until he looked down at the script in his own hands. "Hmph. Someone who's jobless and had to resort to do my bidding for some money? I highly doubt that kind of person could support me."

"Its true that you caught me at my worst," Kise sighed. "But I would do anything in my power to help you prove to your dad how great a woman you really are."

The script signaled a long pause and for Mariko to look up at Ryuzaki in a surprised daze. Kuroko looked up at Kise for a moment, their eyes lingered on each other for only a second before Kuroko's eyes sunk back to the script.

"You're just... saying that to get on my good side," Kuroko said quietly.

"And what if I am?" Kise shrugged, "I would really love to get on your good side."

"Is that some sort of perverted innuendo?" Kuroko said a bit more seriously.

"N-No! I meant it figuratively, of course!" Kise shook his head.

Kuroko let out a small laugh, following the script.

"You should smile more often," Kise said softly. He felt like maybe he was talking to Kuroko more than just reading the lines of the page.

Kuroko whispered  _[blushes]_  before saying his next line. "I wasn't smiling..."

Kise could feel his heartbeat pick up as he saw the next action in the script that said to reach out and gently run his hands through Mariko's hair. He and Kuroko never did anything more than casually hold each other's hand, so he wondered if doing that was too much for him.

Despite that, Kise slowly reached out his hand. Kuroko didn't make any moves to resist it, so Kise felt like that was the cue that it was alright to go ahead.

His fingers lightly brushed against Kuroko's hair. It felt pleasantly soft. His heart still hadn't ceased pounding, but if he wasn't able to do this with Kuroko then there was no way he'd be able to do it on filming day.

He slowly brushed Kuroko's hair back. Feeling the strands between his fingers felt oddly satisfying, and Kuroko's face seemed totally relaxed. It was good that he seemed to not feel uncomfortable by the situation.

"Why are you touching my hair?" Kuroko looked down at the script and read.

Kise paused for a moment before reading his next line, "I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"I guess I just wanted to touch you. And you usually fight back about it, so I feel lucky," Kise smiled slightly.

"Don't push your luck," Kuroko's voice was so soft Kise could barely hear it.

Kise looked at his line, "What would happen if I do?" He whispered.

Kise had to try to keep his voice from shaking with that line, because the next thing on the script was the all-important kiss scene. He read  _[kisses Mariko]_  in his head for what seemed like a million times before he looked up at Kuroko.

Kuroko actually should've said his line by now since Mariko was the next to have a speaking part. But Kise thought maybe it was because Kise didn't read the action out loud or at least signal that he was ready for Kuroko to deliver his line.

Kuroko's eyes were shut, but not tight, almost looking as if he was asleep. Kise didn't know what to do at first... was he tired? Thinking? Then his stomach nearly flipped when he realized - maybe he was waiting to do the kiss scene.

No, Kuroko wouldn't do that, right? Kuroko often read aloud the actions he didn't feel like doing. Although this was technically an action that applied to Kise, he wouldn't act one out period if he didn't want to.

But his eyes remained closed and Kise just noticed that Kuroko's lips were ever so slightly parted. The pounding in Kise's chest started up again as he held up a hand hesitantly. He nearly set his hand back down on his lap, but instinct took over and he gently cupped his hand to Kuroko's cheek.

Steadying his breathing, Kise leaned in until their noses were nearly touching. He couldn't believe he was about to do this with his assistant, but at the same time there was a burning desire to do so. Kuroko's lips literally millimeters away from his was enough to drive him crazy into wanting to close the gap between them.

Kise's eyes closed and their lips met. It was a simple kiss. An incredibly simple kiss, in fact. Their lips only lingered a few seconds and that was it. But for it being so simple, Kise felt like his chest was nearly about to burst. He felt like he had just run a marathon. Twice. His face felt like it was about as hot as the surface of the sun. He had kissed Kuroko, and it was like nothing he'd ever experienced before.

When their lips parted and their eyelids lifted, they inched their faces away from each other a bit. Kise felt like he was in a daze and his vision lingered on Kuroko who's cheeks were slightly pink, but he still seemed to have it together.

Kuroko's eyes only met with Kise's for a moment before he looked down. "What was that for?"

"That?" Kise asked, a bit caught off guard. "That... I just... I thought you... uhmm..." Kise couldn't even find it in himself to speak properly, let alone answer that question.

"Kise-kun... Your next line?" Kuroko spoke up.

Kise looked at him baffled and then down at the script. He then realized he must've looked like a fool, because all Kuroko had done was finally read Mariko's next part.

"Oh!" Kise nearly felt like smacking himself in the face. "Er..." Kise tried to get back into character... Well, as much as he could. "I wanted... to see how you'd react," he said a bit shakily from trying to calm his nerves.

"And what if I had done something excruciatingly painful to you as payback?" Kuroko replied.

"That was the risk I was willing to take."

"Idiot..."

And that was the end of the scene and of the episode.

Now things were weird and Kise wasn't sure what to do. He just kissed his assistant. Even if it was 'practice', maybe he shouldn't have done it. Wasn't that just going to make things awkward between them now? Kasamatsu would probably kill him if he ever found out too...

"Are there any lines you feel like you need to go over again?" Kuroko interrupted his thought process.

"Huh?" Kise looked up at him, confused.

"Lines. Are there any that you need to go over again?" Kuroko repeated.

"Oh..." Kise mindlessly flipped through the script. "N-Nope. I think I pretty much got the hang of it."

"That's good then," Kuroko said, closing his copy of the script.

What just happened? Kuroko was acting totally normal despite what just transpired only moments ago. Was that not a big deal to him? Maybe Kuroko was just being a professional and saw it strictly as work. Yeah, all he was doing was helping Kise with his scenes, he thought. He shouldn't be blowing this whole thing out of proportion either. But was it really okay to not bring it up at all? Maybe it was for the best not to.

"Thanks so much, really," Kise smiled. "I don't think I would be nearly as prepared for the filming as I am now without this practice today."

"I'm glad this helped," Kuroko nodded. "I think you did very well, so I think everything will go smoothly on filming day."

Kise smiled, trying to hide the storm brewing in his mind. Everything that was happening right now was almost too much to handle. Takao, the TV show, and now the kiss he just shared with his assistant - so many things were starting to pile on his plate.

"I bet you like having this veranda," Kuroko commented as he looked up at the sky.

"Yeah, both Kazzuchi and I come out here to talk all the time," Kise appreciated the subject change.

"You and Takao-kun..." Kuroko looked over at Kise with a relaxed expression. "I hope you will be friends forever."

Kise was a little taken aback by Kuroko's words. "I think what Kazzuchi and I have is very special..." outside the sex, of course, Kise thought to himself. "So I think we're pretty much stuck with each other!"

"That's good," Kuroko went back to looking up at the sky. "I had a good friend once... But I lost him. Ah, nothing bad happened to him or anything, but we drifted apart. Things just... didn't work out."

Kise listened attentively. It was rare for Kuroko to get sentimental.

"To this day I regret that we couldn't have remained friends," he let out a small sigh. "That's why I try to make sure I'm always a good friend to Kagami-kun. I don't want to lose another friend."

"You and Kagami are a lot like me and Kazzuchi, I guess?" Kise hoped they didn't have the benefits like they did, though.

"Mhm," Kuroko nodded. "Same with you, though. I wouldn't want to lose you either.

Kise's eyes widened a bit and he looked over at Kuroko. "You really mean that?"

"Yes," Kuroko nodded. "You may get really famous one day and forget all about me, though. I would understand if that happened."

"No way that would happen!" Kise sat up and Kuroko looked over at him. "Because Kurokocchi is always going to be my assistant!"

Kuroko let out a short laugh and a sincere smile spread across his face, "I look forward to it then."

The corners of Kise's mouth turned up as well. Kuroko's smile really was pleasant.

"But unfortunately, I'm going to have to head back home," Kuroko sat up. "I have something to do early tomorrow and Nigou gets a bit pouty if I'm out all night."

"Oh! I'm sorry to keep you so late then," Kise stood up.

"Its fine - I have the advantage of having my own car," Kuroko stood up and stretched a bit.

Kise walked Kuroko back into the house and to his car. The night seemed different in the parking lot than from up at the veranda.

"Goodnight, Kurokocchi. Thanks once again."

"I actually enjoyed it, so it wasn't a problem at all," Kuroko replied.

The two of them said their goodbyes and Kise watched Kuroko drive off.

Slowly, he made his way back to his apartment and flopped himself down on the couch. It was about 10 pm and he wondered what Takao was up to. He thought about messaging him, but if he was out partying with his friends he didn't really want to interrupt.

Plus, again, it would be like Kise running to Takao once he needed a distraction. There didn't necessarily need to be physical contact for the two to seek out the other whenever they wanted to hide from their problems. Kise needed to learn to deal with problems on his own if he was ever going to imagine not having to depend on Takao for everything.

That kiss with Kuroko was probably going to stay on his mind for a long time. But instead of having Takao foster his feelings, Kise knew he had to face them head on. He couldn't run from them anymore. He couldn't fear the thought of people liking him just for his looks or his fame. He couldn't run from the fear of commitment any longer.

Yes, Takao would always be there for him. He wouldn't have it any other way. But the day had to come when he didn't need him any longer as his security blanket. Takao can't be the one to fix his problems anymore. Because for the first time in his life, Kise felt like he might be falling in love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kind of realize the drama seems incredibly anime, but I blame that on the fact that I've never watched a J-drama (or K-drama)! But I hope you've enjoyed the KiKuro-centric chapter with a major development! Not only with the situation between Kise and Kuroko, but with Kise and Takao as well.
> 
> Also if you haven't heard, **I've started a poll!** I want to know what oneshot my readers want to see next, so I'm asking all of you! You can [vote here](https://www.murvey.com/s?546bef5c9c3e57c94a00023b). You have until December 10th (sorry for a bit of a late notice with the readers of this story ^^;) to vote and the winner will be posted December 24th.


	10. Chapter 10

Every morning was a daily routine. Get up at 6 a.m., eat breakfast, watch Oha Asa, brush teeth, get dressed, and head to class, and on the weekends, begin his homework. Life for Midorima Shintarou was quite normal and he liked it that way. It wasn't until recently that there was a certain... someone... disturbing the flow he had perfected since he was a child.

"Nii-chan, when is Takao-kun coming over again?" His little sister pulled on his sleeve at the dining table.

"I'm not sure," Midorima answered flatly.

"You must've had fun playing with Shintarou's friend the other day. Didn't you, Aiko?" His mother smiled while his father focused on the newspaper in his hands.

"Mhm," Aiki nodded, "He's funny and nice and haaaandsome!" Aiko blushed and giggled.

Midorima sighed.

"Ahhh my little girl's first crush," His mother chuckled.

"He's too old for you, Aiko," Mr. Midorima spoke up from behind his newspaper.

"Oh, dear, she's just experiencing puppy love, that's all," his wife playfully patted his forearm.

Ever since Takao came to their house over the weekend, Midorima's sister showed signs of obvious infatuation. Midorima wondered when his sister would finally come home saying how she had a crush on a boy in her class. Little did he know it would actually end up being someone from  _his_  class.

"Can you say 'hi' to Takao-kun for me? Pleeeease?" Aiko pleaded as Midorima was getting ready to leave for his classes for the day.

"Yes, of course," he sighed again, sliding on his shoes.

"Um, and tell him he can come over whenever he wants," Aiko blushed slightly with her hands behind her back.

Midorima stood up and patted his sister's head. "I'll do that," he said before walking out the door.

* * *

"Hey, Shin-chan," Takao greeted his usual, cheery greeting before sitting down next to Midorima in the one class they shared.

"Hello," Midorima replied without looking up from his notes.

"Hey, thanks again for letting me stay over the other day, really, I couldn't have-"

"It wasn't a problem so you don't have to feel obligated to keep thanking me," Midorima huffed.

Takao chuckled a bit, "Alright, alright, I know you have a tough time dealing with kindness."

"It not that, its just that you've thanked me enough," Midorima retorted, "You're my f-friend so it would make sense that I'd help you..." he said a in a quieter voice.

Midorima could feel his face heating up as he just let his hardened defenses slip a little.

"Shin-chan..." he could hear Takao say in a breathless voice next to him. "You just called me... your 'friend'! You really are a great guy!"

Midorima then felt Takao's head rubbing against his arm, as if he were a large dog trying to get his attention.

"S-Stop that!" Midorima stuttered as he tried to scoot away from Takao's nuzzling.

"Aww, but I feel like our friendship grew so much in that moment!" Takao pouted.

"People are watching," Midorima hissed, not even knowing if people were actually watching or even cared.

"Well, if people weren't here it'd be okay then?" Takao asked.

"That's... not the point," Midorima grumbled.

And of course Takao laughed. Laughed like he usually did. At least all of his laughing meant he was feeling just fine now after the rough weekend he had.

* * *

"So... where are you taking me?" Midorima asked as he and Takao walked off campus during their break.

Takao had said he wanted to treat Midorima to lunch to make up for having to pick him up the other day.

"The café I took you to the last time," Takao said cheerily. "I just really like that place. You liked it last time too, right?"

"Yes, the atmosphere was nice," Midorima was a bit surprised at how much Takao tried pulling him into his personal life.

Once they arrived, they sat at the table they sat in last time. Midorima figured this was Takao's usual place. And once again the waitress was the woman they had last time who Takao seemed pretty close to as well. His 'usual' he asked for was a hamburger steak, from what Midorima saw last time.

Takao slumped back in his seat in a relaxed position while they waited for their food.

"My sister says, 'hello', by the way," Midorima commented, remembering Aiko's request earlier.

"Oh, Aiko-chan!" Takao smiled. "You sure have a cute little sister. Tell her I said 'hello' too. Ah, maybe I should go visit my sister this weekend..."

"The moment you left she kept asking when you'd come back next," Midorima continued.

"Oh?" Takao raised an eyebrow.

"She seems to be quite infatuated with you," Midorima said, adjusting his glasses. He wasn't entirely sure why he was telling Takao about his sister's little crush.

"Really?" Takao crossed his arms with a smirk. "Well, she is pretty cute..."

"Don't even joke about it," Midorima shot a glare.

Takao chuckled, "Relax! I'm just messing with you, sis-con," Takao teased.

"I am not..." Midorima blushed slightly. He was just protective of his sister, that was all...

"Besides, I'm gay, remember?" Takao leaned back into his chair. "Little girls are about as far off my meter as it can get."

Midorima had nearly forgotten Takao's confession, oddly enough. He supposed at the moment the only concern were Takao's injuries and his toxic habits, so the fact that he admitted to being gay to Midorima seemed minimal at the time.

But now they were just casually talking over lunch and the realization finally hit him. Midorima could see no problem with being gay... in fact he... questioned the possibility of him being gay himself. Ever since the incident with Kise and his feelings remaining for him even after finding out he was a boy... he was careful not to develop feelings for anyone else since. It was a bit silly, and he knew it. It wasn't Kise's fault either - he had accepted that a long time ago. But he was always a bit... afraid of how it would end up if her were to fall in love.

"Takao," Midorima spoke up after a bit of being lost in his thoughts. "Next time, don't go to those hook-up spots. Or whatever they're called..."

"Huh?" Takao gave a look of confusion.

"Just don't do that anymore... Casual s-sex..." Midorima blushed lightly, adjusting his glasses nervously.

"Er, Shin-chan... I usually don't pick up guys like that. I was just a bit off that day. The guys I usually-"

"Don't," Midorima interrupted. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest. "You could get hurt worse next time..."

Midorima's gaze was away from Takao, but he could tell his mouth was now hanging open. Probably in shock. It was a bit silent for a moment before Takao spoke up again.

"Shin-chan, you're a good guy - you aren't like me," Takao gave a small, cynical laugh. "I... I like casual sex. So..." He rubbed his neck, probably feeling a bit uncomfortable.

Midorima felt his chest clench. Because Takao had offhandedly said he wasn't a good guy... Because Takao said he liked casual sex when it was clearly something more than that. It was obvious Takao was just hurting himself, not physically, but emotionally. When Takao said that Midorima might think of him as 'disgusting', he knew he was actually referring to what he felt of himself, even if he didn't realize it. Midorima knew it was something he didn't truly enjoy. He witnessed the loneliness in Takao's eyes the night he picked him up, and when he tended to his bruises. The hooking up in bars - it wasn't what he actually wanted.

"Well, next time you're thinking about going out, consider coming over to my house," Midorima said in a steady voice. "It would make Aiko happy... I could make dinner... We could study for our exams..."

Midorima boldly looked up across the table despite feeling the embarrassment burn his face.

Takao seemed speechless as his mouth opened and closed like a goldfish. Then, he let out a breathy laugh, his brows scrunched together and his eyes watery.

"Yeah... yeah, I'll keep that in mind," He smiled, looking uncharacteristicly meek as he fiddled with a napkin on the table.

There was no loud shouting or laughing. There was no tackling or a death grip of an embrace. Just a shy smile and nod from Takao.

"Good," Midorima said with a sigh. "Because if you didn't come over once in a while Aiko would probably never stop bothering me."

Takao chuckled lightly, the atmosphere's mood lifting. Their meal went much the same, very little words spoken. but Takao seemed to be enjoying himself. They were nearly finished when Takao looked up in surprise and called out a familiar name.

"Oh, Ryou-chan!"

Midorima looked over in the direction Takao was waving and saw none other than Kise Ryouta.

"And Kuroko-chan~!" Takao hummed.

Midorima was taken aback as there was, in fact, someone else with Kise. He was a bit shorter and leaner than the model, but had attractive features and shockingly light blue hair that made him wonder how he could ever miss him.

"Kazzucchi!" Kise walked over to their table, "I guess it isn't too surprising to find you here. And with Midorimacchi," Kise looked over at Midorima and smiled.

"Hello, Kise," Midorima replied back plainly.

"Ah, this is Kurokocchi, err, Kuroko. He's my assistant," Kise signaled next to him.

"And this is Shin-chan!" Takao said

"Midorima is preferred," he huffed.

"Nice to meet you, Midorima-kun," Kuroko bowed slightly.

"Nice to meet you as well," Midorima bowed as well as he could while sitting.

"Eh, I just realized how formal both of them are," Takao commented.

"Heh, you're right," Kise added, amused.

"Well, we're about done so you can have the regular table," Takao stood up. "I'd like to stay, but both of us have a class pretty soon."

"Aww, and just when I thought we could all sit and talk," Kise pouted.

"Next time! We should all plan something," Takao suggested. "You guys drink, right? We'll take you to our favorite bar."

"I don't really drink," both Midorima and Kuroko replied almost simultaneously.

Midorima glanced over at Kuroko who seemed to do the same thing back. Well, at least that was one thing he had in common with the new face.

Both Kise and Takao seemed to find it funny.

"It'll be fun, you don't have to drink much. Just a place to hang out," Takao shrugged.

"Well, I'd be fine with that," Kuroko replied.

Midorima wasn't sure how to reply. He never went to a bar and he hadn't really planned to. Especially with the people that were inviting him.

"How about you, Shin-chan?" Takao elbowed him on the arm.

"I... I suppose," he adjusted his glasses, "But when I'm ready to leave, I'm leaving."

"You'll be fiiiine. You'll have a blast!" Takao patted him on the back.

The group exchanged their goodbyes soon after as both Midorima and Takao would be pushing it if they didn't start heading to class.

Midorima was unsure how this whole outing was going to go. He wasn't much of a... 'going out' person. He never had a group of friends that went to bars or movies, or to hang out and play video games at each others houses. In fact, he was quite the isolated type, who preferred doing things by himself.

But ever since he met Takao... it was almost as if he was starting to be shoved into this more social life. He looked over at the man he walked next to, talking excitedly about the plans they had just made. And maybe... Midorima didn't really hate this change as much as he thought he would.

* * *

Kuroko had grown fond of the actor he was an assistant for. When he took on the job at the talent company Kagami's friend got him in with, he went in with high expectations that any of the talents he had to work with would be nothing less than intolerable. When he found out he was going to be an assistant to one of them? He felt like he might have to quit right then and there. But of course, he couldn't do that without giving it a chance.

Little did he know, the guy he would end up working for a was a dumb pretty-boy with a big heart. Kise was incredibly sincere for someone of that profession, Kuroko wondered how he could handle the heat of being famous. But when Kise was doing his job, his serious side came out and he took every criticism professionally.

Outside of his job he was a little... hopeless. One time Kuroko got a call at three in the morning over Kise's concern of having a pimple, crying - 'We're shooting a scene tomorrow and there's a lot of close-up shots!' Another time Kise suggested it would be a good idea to buy up all the onion gratin soups in the frozen food section while they were stocking up for supplies at the office, and Kuroko had to vehemently suggest that wouldn't be a good idea to buy all ten cases.

But Kise was Kise and that's what made him an admirable, but sometimes stupid, person. He was a person that would do everything in his power and yet not be afraid to show his power. He was silly, yet completely serious when it came to his job. He was a charmer, but sometimes a bit goofy.

Earlier that day, Kise even took him out to, what he claimed, was his favorite café. He had been acting oddly nice, but Kuroko assumed that was due to their previous exchange last weekend whenever they were going over Kise's lines. During their lunch Kise was quite polite, even a little finicky. Kuroko was sure he wasn't trying to make the atmosphere awkward, but he was trying a little too hard. But he supposed that was just one of the many ways that made Kise who he was.

"So, I kissed Kise-kun the other day."

Kagami nearly sprayed the drink in his mouth all over Kuroko before cupping his hand to his mouth. He frantically grabbed for a napkin to dry himself off.

"You don't say something like that right when I take a sip of something!" Kagami scolded as he dabbed his mouth.

"Sorry, I was just thinking about it," Kuroko seemed unfazed as he sipped on his vanilla shake, eying the mountain of burgers that had suddenly became half in size in the past ten minutes.

"And we're in public too..." Kagami grumbled, unwrapping another burger. "But... What? You  _kissed_  him? Why?"

"I'm not entirely sure. We were practicing the script together and there was a kiss scene and I decided to go with it," Kuroko said with a straight face.

"... He didn't make you, did he?" Kagami's eyes narrowed.

"Well, I guess technically  _he_  kissed  _me_ ," Kuroko tapped the straw to his lips.

"Bastard!" Kagami growled.

"But I made it really clear I  _wanted_  him to kiss me," Kuroko continued.

"Wh... Please be more clear about this..." Kagami lifted his hand to his face with a sigh.

"The thing is, I don't know why I wanted Kise-kun to kiss me," Kuroko ignored his friend's frustrations.

"Are you... you know," Kagami leaned in closer, "Do you like guys?" He asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

"I never really thought it about it," Kuroko shrugged.

"Well, since I've known you, you haven't dated anyone and you've never even seemed interested in anyone either," Kagami sat back up again.

"Same with you," Kuroko shot back.

Kagami narrowed his eyes agan, "Th-That's not the point... I'm just saying this is the first time you've ever told me anything like this. So you must have some sort of feelings for him, right?"

"I'm not sure," Kuroko sighed. "Even if I did, it might be fruitless to pursue. I'm sure he has people throwing themselves at him."

"Well, I can't say I really approve of him," Kagami grumbled. "Its probably no good to date a model turned actor."

"Kise-kun is a good guy..." Kuroko said softly, his gaze focused on the window.

Kagami huffed. "Well, I support you. But I don't want you getting your heart broken."

"I won't," Kuroko replied. "I don't plan on doing anything about it."

"Huh? Really?" Kagami arched an eyebrow.

"I'm sure Kise-kun is just overly nice with me because we've become friends. And things like kissing probably aren't a big deal to him. Besides, I'm not entirely sure what my own feelings are," Kuroko gave his shake another sip and looked over at his friend. "But thank you, Kagami-kun."

"Of course," Kagami picked up another burger. "But don't go surprising me so suddenly like that again."

"Right, I won't," Kuroko began eating his order of fries. "So how are you and Aomine-kun?"

"Tsk," just by Kagami's reaction, he could tell it hadn't gotten any better.

"You two are still mad with each other?"

"Of course! The guy thinks he can just drunkenly come over to  _my_  house in the middle of the night with some random girl he picked up!? I'm pissed!" Kagami took an angry bite out of his burger.

"Has he apologized?" Kuroko asked.

"Yeah, but just apologizing isn't going to cut it," Kagami said with his mouth full of food.

"Well, what  _is_  going to make you forgive him?" Kuroko raised an eyebrow.

"I.." Kagami paused and scratched his head. "Shit, I dunno. I'm just still mad at him about it, alright?"

"Alright. Well I hope things get settled soon," Kuroko nibbled on a fry.

Kagami just grumbled as he munched on his last burger.

* * *

Kuroko left the coffee shop as usual during work. The regular order of his, Kasamatsu's, and Kise's, plus an extra in hand. The last time Kuroko got a fourth coffee by mistake, but apparently Momoi really enjoyed getting the extra coffee Kuroko had, so Kise suggested getting another one for her once in a while.

They were shooting on site once again and luckily it was right across the street from the coffee shop, so Kuroko simply had to cross the street to deliver the coffees. He spotted Kasamatsu first, clearing his throat to get his attention. He then walked to the tent where the actors could rest and found Kise sitting with Momoi.

Kuroko wondered if Kise had any interests in her. She was quite pretty and they would make a great celebrity couple. He was sure once the PR and commercials started being released for the drama people would be closely observing them for any signs of a possible relationship.

"I've brought your coffee, Kise-kun," Kuroko stood next to Kise and held out the carrier.

"Thanks as always, Kurokocchi," Kise smiled, already used to Kuroko coming out of nowhere.

"And here's one for you, Momoi-san," Kuroko grabbed one of the cups out of the carrier and held out to her.

"Oh, thank you!" She said in mild surprise, grabbing the coffee. "You're so thoughtful, bringing me one again," her face flushed slightly.

"Kurokocchi is just a really nice guy like that," Kise flashed a small smile.

Kuroko wasn't sure why Kise was acting like the coffee for her was his idea, but he decided not to comment on it.

"You can sit," Kise patted the seat next to him.

Kuroko obliged. His job was to do what Kise wanted, after all.

"We were talking about the next scene we're filming - the one you and I practiced," Kise briefly looked over at Kuroko.

"I'm a bit nervous about it," Momoi cupped both of her hands around her cup.

"I'm sure you'll do great, Momoi-san.

Momoi blushed again. Kuroko was surprised at how shy she seemed to be despite being an actress.

"Yeah! Don't worry, I won't force you to do anything if you aren't comfortable with it," Kise reassured.

"I'm definitely not worried about you, Kise-kun!" Momoi said. "I'm more worried about messing up such an important scene..."

Kise's phone jingled before he could say anything else.

He grabbed it off the table in front of him and looked at the screen. "Sorry guys, I gotta go speak with Kasamatsu-san really quick."

And just like that he was off, Kuroko alone with Momoi for the first time. She was a nice enough girl, but he really didn't know how to talk to her without Kise around.

"The coffee is good, thank you, Kuroko-kun," Momoi said softly, taking a sip.

"I'm glad you like it," Kuroko replied. It was actually kind of bizarre that he was sitting so casually with such a famous actress.

"How do you like working for Kise-kun?" She asked, probably trying to start up some conversation so they didn't sit in silence.

"I enjoy it," Kuroko replied, "Kise-kun is a great person to work for. I don't mind helping him with his lines and everything."

"You must be lucky to have each other then," Momoi smiled.

"Momoi-san!" At the sound of her name, Momoi turned around.

Her manager with the fox-like face was approaching the table.

"You need to go to the trailer for make-up, the shooting is resuming in twenty minutes," Imayoshi beckoned her to follow him.

"Ah, alright!" She stood up and looked back at Kuroko. "Sorry, Kuroko-kun, I have to go."

"Good luck today," Kuroko replied.

Momoi waved before dashing off after her manager.

Kuroko let out a soft sigh, holding his cup in his hand. Maybe he should go find Kise and see if he was needed. Knowing him, Kuroko was sure Kise needed some sort of trifle thing to be done. Not that he minded much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took way too long to come out, so I apologize. ;~; But I hope you liked this being a bit different and it being in Midorima and Kuroko's perspectives! I might do this again if the future if you guys like it. ^^ Or if I feel the situation calls for it, heh.
> 
> Hopefully the next update won't take as long. Thank you for all the kind words and comments, I appreciate all of them! See you next time! :*


	11. Chapter 11

Takao could tell Midorima was immediately feeling out of place in the dim, noisy bar, but he wasn't about to let that deter him from making sure the group was going to have a good time. Kise and Kuroko came along as well, it seemed like their plan to take their two quiet, serious, friends out to drink worked out after all. With a lot of convincing on Takao's end, of course.

They luckily found an empty booth for them to all sit at, Takao and Kise leading the way. Kise sat on one side with Kuroko while Takao sat with Midorima across from them.

"This ain't so bad, huh, Shin-chan?" Takao nudged Midorima.

"Well, at least its clean..." Midorima commented.

Takao grinned and a waitress came up to their table to get their orders. They all got beers and a light snack to share.

"Is this your first time at a bar, Kuroko-chan?" Takao asked across the table, loud enough to be heard over the buzz of other conversations.

"No," Kuroko replied simply, "I've been a few times."

"Oh? I didn't think you were they type," Kise chimed in.

"Kagami-kun likes to go to them occasionally and sometimes he asks if I want to come along," Kuroko replied.

"I bet this is Shin-chan's first time," Takao nudged his neighbor.

"So what..." Midorima said barely loud enough for them to hear.

"Ehhh, I knew it! I'm so glad I got to experience this first with you~" Takao teased, Midorima just crossed his arms and ignored him.

As the drinks and food were brought, a relaxed atmosphere was created with more casual talk amongst the group. Takao thought it was amusing how Midorima only sipped occasionally at his beer and was definitely the slowest drinker. But at least he looked a lot more comfortable.

It didn't take much to notice Kise's body language and expressions. He was obviously having a good time and Takao knew what was the cause of most of it - Kuroko. It was obvious to Takao that Kise was in love, but his best friend was so dense, he wasn't sure if Kise himself had noticed it or not.

Takao wanted to change. He didn't want to depend on Kise so much anymore. He wanted him  _and_  Kise to be happy enough to not go running to each other all the time.

"Hey, Shin-chan, lets go sit up at the bar and I'll treat you to a drink," Takao said happily.

"Oh, we'll come with you two," Kise said, starting to get up.

"No! Its fine," Takao shook his head, "You two were having such a good time I don't want to interrupt. Plus you guys can save the table for when we come back. Come on, Shin-chan!"

Midorima was a smart guy, and even if he wouldn't be so ready to obey Takao, he got the feeling that Takao was making their presence sparse for a reason.

"Just don't leave without us!" Kise shouted after them.

Takao found two empty seats together at the bar and sat down, Midorima sitting next to him.

"I'll get us some shochu," Takao suggested as he got the bartender's attention.

"So, why did you want to leave those two alone after you were adamant about all of us going out together?" Midorima asked.

"Hmm..." Takao thought for a bit. Even though it was obvious to him, he didn't think he should be talking about Kise's business of trying to woo Kuroko. "Ryou-chan and Kuroko-chan... I just got the feeling I should let them have a moment alone, y'know?"

Midorima just grunted a response as he took a sip of the shochu that was set in front of him.

"So, tell me more about Shin-chan! What was high school like? Your friends? Hobbies?" Takao asked eagerly.

"It was normal," Midorima said, looking down at his drink. "Like I told you, I was in the theater club. That was it."

"Huh... Did you have friends in theater?"

"Yes, not very close ones, but we were together quite a bit. It was natural for bonds to be made," Midorima continued.

"Were there any cute girls you liked?" Takao raised his eyebrows.

Midorima huffed, "I wasn't interested in that."

"Haha! You're so much different than I was in high school. I wonder if we would've ever hung out," Takao took a swig of his drink.

"I'm sure you were a lot more social," Midorima sighed.

"Mhm," Takao nodded. "I was only in the basketball club for one year with Ryou-chan. That was when we decided to date too. We would always do really naughty things in the shower room when everyone cleared out." Takao smirked.

"... Dated?" Midorima raised a brow.

Takao took his drink from his lips, "Oh! Yeah, I never told you, huh? Ryou-chan and I dated for a bit in high school - isn't that weird?" He chuckled.

"So... Kise is also...?" Midorima left the rest of his sentence unsaid.

"Oh, gay? Nah, he really likes girls. But he's messed around with other guys besides me, so I guess he's bi? Or something. I think Kise just likes beautiful people," Takao explained.

"I see..." Midorima took another sip.

"Yeah, I guess high school was the start of my devious lifestyle. I should blame Ryou-chan, he was the start of it," Takao sighed. "One time, I was having this thing with this guy who had a girlfriend. He even made me wear one of his girlfriend's skirts she left behind while we did it - what a freak!"

Looking over at Midorima, he obviously had a displeased face.

"Ah..." Takao scratched at his head, "Sorry, you probably don't want to hear all those stories about me doing those kinds of things..."

Midorima didn't respond, but it was clear that no, he absolutely did not want to hear it.

"... I kinda want to stop, though. You know, the whole casual sex thing," Takao looked down at his glass. "That talk I had with you the other day really got me thinking, you know? I might've denied it at the time, but you're totally right. I know its not really making me happy. When I'm doing it I like it, but afterward I feel like shit..."

Midorima's face softened as he listened to Takao.

"I'd rather go to Shin-chan's house and be spoiled by him," Takao chuckled a bit. "Maybe team up with Aiko-chan and tease you a little."

"Hmph," Midorima adjusted his glasses.

"Aww, Shin-chan, are you blushing or is it the alcohol?" Takao leaned closer towards Midorima.

"Its neither!" Midorima leaned away from him.

Takao laughed and latched onto Midorima's arm and nuzzling his face into it, "You smell so good, Shin-chan."

"Nn..!" Midorima flustered a bit, "Are you sure you aren't the one that's drunk?"

"Eh, no way. I only had three beers and this shochu," Takao pouted.

"Well, you  _are_  always overly affectionate..." Midorima sighed.

"I like giving Shin-chan my affection~" Takao hummed as the bartender brought him another drink.

"Idiot..." Midorima wondered if he should be watching Takao's alcohol intake.

* * *

"I wonder why they decided to leave..." Kise seemed a bit pouty.

"I'm sure Takao-kun just wanted to make Midorima-kun more comfortable," Kuroko tried to reassure him.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Kise sighed, taking a swig of his beer. "Do you like the gyoza? Takao and I always get it when we come here because its so good."

Kuroko nodded, "It is quite good."

Kise smiled. He was really happy that he and Kuroko's relationship hadn't soured since that day. He really liked being around Kuroko... And the alcohol was making him feel more relaxed.

"Hey, Kurokocchi, do you have any picture of your dog? I've been curious about how he looks since you mentioned him," Kise asked.

"Oh, yes, hold on," Kuroko fished his phone out of his pocket and fiddled with it for a bit. "Here he is."

Kise leaned closer to Kuroko to look at the phone, "Aww, he really is cute! I can see how your friend thought he looked like you, he has similar colored eyes."

"Mhm," Kuroko hit the next button, its was another picture of Nigou, but with a man Kise hadn't seen before looking a little uncomfortable petting him. "That's Kagami-kun with him."

Kise got to finally see this 'Kagami' Kuroko talked so much about. He was a pretty handsome guy. Kise almost felt a little jealous of Kuroko's relationship with him... It seemed like they were together all the time. But then again, he had such a strange relationship himself with Takao. He really didn't have room to talk...

"Oh, that's Kagami-kun, huh? Maybe one day I'll meet him," Kise smiled.

"I hope you two will get along," Kuroko pocketed his phone again.

"Eh, would you really introduce him to me?" Kise was a little surprised hearing Kuroko using 'will' in his sentence.

Kuroko shrugged his shoulders slightly, "I think it would happen eventually."

Kise felt a little happy about that. Kuroko really expected to him to be introduced to his precious friend and hoped it went well. Did that mean Kuroko hoped Kise would stay in his life for a long time?

"I'd be really happy if you did," Kise said, feeling a little embarrassed about it, but genuine nonetheless.

Kuroko smirked slightly, "He might be a little harsh on you since I mentioned our kiss the other day."

Kise nearly sprayed the beer he was sipping across the table at that moment.

"H-Huh!?"

"Sorry, I tell Kagami-kun a lot of things," Kuroko said with little emotion.

Never mind that - Kuroko just acknowledged they kissed! He hadn't done that once since then, and now he decided to bring it up?

"Er, I'm really sorry... I didn't mean to..." Kise scratched his head, not sure how to talk about the subject he thought was behind them.

"You didn't?" Kise looked over to see Kuroko keeping his ever-calm expression.

"Well, I mean... I did it without even asking, and it must be weird to be kissed by another guy..."

"If I had a problem with you kissing me, I wouldn't have let you in the first place," Kuroko sighed. He took a couple small sips from his beer.

"Uh, umm..." Kise drummed on his beer glass, not knowing how to respond to that.

Did that mean Kuroko... wanted it? And why did the thought of that make Kise really happy? Maybe it was the alcohol making him feel that way...

No... Kise knew that in the back of his mind he had been thinking about that kiss. Thinking about his complicated feelings for Kuroko. What exactly  _did_  he think of his assistant?

"Err, you didn't mind it? Was it... good?" Kise felt his face heat up a little at his earnest questioning. He was too flustered to look over at Kuroko.

"I don't know," Kuroko said, in his same, steady voice.

"Eh?" Kise looked over at Kuroko who had been looking over at him.

"It was just a quick kiss, so I'm not sure," Kuroko said simply.

"... We could try it again..." Kise mumbled. He definitely felt his cheeks were burning at this point. He felt so silly, he had been on his fair share of dates and something like a kiss was making him blush like it was his first.

"No," Kuroko said bluntly. Kise felt his heart drop. His vision might've gone a little blurry too. He had never been denied so harshly like that.

"O-Okay," Kise slumped back in his seat.

"You can't just go kissing people in public," Kuroko added.

"Huh?" Kise felt the blood slowly draining back to his face. "This place doesn't really mind that sort of thing... even if it's two guys." Kise knew because Takao would bring along guys he was dating to this bar all the time. Sometimes he'd even manage to pick one up if he was single.

"Its not that, "Kuroko sighed again, "You're a model and now an actor - you can't be seen doing anything like that. Especially with me since that's exactly the thing I try to  _prevent_  you from doing. It would be a disaster if someone managed to take a picture."

"Oh..." Kise felt a lot more relieved to know Kuroko said 'no' because of official business. "So... if we were alone you would?"

"I don't know," Kuroko looked away and casually sipped at his beer.

"Aww, come on, Kurokocchi, tell me!" Kise whined.

* * *

Takao could tell Midorima was getting a little buzzed even though he was being pretty sparse with his drinking. The two walked back to join Kise and Kuroko, Takao figuring that might've been enough time for them to be alone. Plus, he didn't want to make it seem like he didn't want to be around them.

"Hey guys, we're back. Do any heavy petting under the table while we were away?" Takao joked as he slid into the booth.

"That's rude, Takao," Midorima spoke up next to him. Apparently he was a little more bold when he drank. Takao noted that.

"Of course we just talked!" Kise also said in his defense.

"Talked..." Kuroko murmured.

"Eh? Its true! Don't make them think we did something more," Kise said, Kuroko obviously enjoying his slight distress.

"Even if they did that'd be thier business," Midorima claimed. Takao casually filled Midorima's glass with the pitcher. Maybe he'd drink more.

"Yeah... I guess so. You wouldn't do something like that though, huh, Shin-chan?"

"Of course not, I don't do such indecent things," Midorima took a swig of his glass.

"Indecent, huh? You say that, but you also defended Ryou-chan and Kuroko-chan just now for possibly doing it," Takao added.

"Its still their business even if its indecent," Midorima said with finality.

"Hmm..." Takao hummed and glanced down at Midorima.

Well, he  _was_  feeling a little mischievous.

"A-Anyway, lets not talk about that," Kise said, trying to get off the subject. "Kazucchi says you're studying to be a doctor, right Midorimacchi? That must be really hard."

"Its not too difficult if you study well and do all of your work," Midorima said with a level voice.

"As expected of Midorimacchi! Even when your were young I knew you were an overachiever," Kise commented.

"Well, its not exactly... Nn!"

Kise tilted his head, "What's wrong, Midorimacchi?"

"N-Nothing. I just, uh," He gave a quick, sharp glare over at Takao, "Have a bit of stomach pain."

Takao tried his best not to laugh as he slowly rubbed Midorima's thigh, trying not to look like it was obvious for the people across the table. And of course, Takao trusted Midorima to pretend like it was nothing.

"Oh no, do you need to go to the bathroom?" Kise asked worriedly.

"No, no," Midorima shook his head. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure, Shin-chan? I could go with you," Takao said as he slyly moved his hand further up Midorima's thigh.

Now Midorima's face was starting to turn red. Well, more red than it already was.

"I said I'm alright," Midorima casually slipped his hand under the table and pinched the skin on Takao's wrist.

"Ah...!" Takao jerked his hand away and snickered at Midorima's smart thinking.

He was way too fun to tease. Kise looked a little confused across the table.

The rest of the night had began to settle down as they wrapped up their fun. Tomorrow was back to the real world, after all.

* * *

They didn't get completely wasted, fortunately, so Takao and Kise only woke up the next morning a little groggy. They both made sure Midorima and Kuroko made it back to their homes fine. Midorima was the only one who seemed a little worried about if he smelled too much like smoke or alcohol. He also seemed like a lightweight, as he probably drank the least yet was the most unsteady on his feet. Which was amusing for Takao, of course.

Takao knew he enjoyed being around Midorima, as much as it was obvious that a person like Midorima was... not the easiest person to get along with. But there was something about him that Takao really liked. And for a while in the back of his brain, he thought it might be more than something then friendship.

He wasn't very drunk last night. He remembered Midorima's smell, the warmth of his body... and rubbing his thigh like that was more than a joke. He was almost disappointed that he couldn't inch his hand up even further.

As for Kise... It was so obvious that he was doll-eyed of Kuroko. Takao took a few glances at them when he was at the bar and could have sworn he saw hearts in Kise's eyes. And when they returned to the table, the atmosphere between the two seemed to have changed.

Maybe... this was it? Maybe this was the thing they needed to finally stop their toxic relationship. Takao never wanted to lose Kise, but for a long time they had both been thinking about stopping their unusual way of coping. But they never went through with it. It had to be stopped if they ever hoped to remain friends. Takao couldn't imagine his life without Kise, and Kise felt the same way.

Takao walked out to the kitchen where Kise had just finished making a pot of coffee.

"Hey, Ryou-chan?" Takao called out.

"Hm? What is it?" Kise asked.

Takao simply walked up to him and planted a kiss on his lips.

Kise looked baffled, "What... was that for? We haven't kissed since we dated."

"I know," Takao smiled. "I just wanted to have our last kiss, y'know?"

"...Huh?" Kise's face twisted even more in confusion.

Takao giggled, "Ryou-chan... let's end this. For real. You like Kuroko-chan, right? I want you to be happy."

"... Eh? Huh?" Kise's face turned slightly red.

"No more sleeping together! Well, I mean, you can sleep in my bed, but that's it!" Takao nodded. "I need to grow up and stop this fooling around too."

"We're still friends, right?" Kise looked like he might cry at any moment.

"Of course! Idiot..." Takao laughed and ruffled Kise's hair.

Kise gave a huge sigh of relief and leaned onto Takao for a hug."Was it that obvious that I liked Kurokocchi..." he mumbled into Takao's shoulder.

"Are you serious? You might as well have been wearing a huge sign saying "I LOVE KUROKO!" around your neck," Takao laughed.

"Aww," Kise pouted and went to go retrieve a coffee cup in defeat. "I thought I was pretty good at hiding it. But, well, Kurokocchi might like me back, maybe..."

"Huh? For real?" Takao asked eagerly.

"Mnn... I'll tell you later," Kise poured a cup of coffee. "Anyway, aren't you and Midorimacchi the same?" Kise shot back.

"Huh, no way! I only kind of realized it myself last night, there's no way you'd know!" Takao protested.

"Kazzucchi is surprisingly dense," Kise was starting to feel a little smug.

"Shut up!" Takao pouted as he grabbed a coffee cup of his own.

This actually felt... pretty nice. It felt like they might finally have a normal friendship, like, this decision felt real this time. And it lifted a weight off their shoulders.

Takao thought that maybe, just maybe, Midorima could be the one. He already knew about his past and still accepted him. The only issue was if he liked Takao back. That might end up being his biggest obstacle... But Midorima had already been a big impact on his life anyway. He knew Midorima was another person that could support him instead of going out to pick up a random lay.

Kise knew Kuroko was a huge mystery, but no one had ever made him feel like his relationship was valuable besides Takao. And Kuroko made him feel like he was in high school all over again and falling in love for the first time.

"Let's go to the café for lunch to celebrate," Takao said. "Then you can tell Riko-chan you're finally giving up on her."

"Aww come on, I did a long time ago!" Kise laughed. He took a sip of his coffee and smiled slightly. "You know, I think it'll work out this time."

Takao smiled warmly, looking at his best friend, "Me too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize a lot, but I feel like I should be super sincere about this one. ;~; It has been WAY too long in between updates and I feel so bad - I'm so sorry! As you can see, I didn't drop this story! I will never do that, so please don't worry. Although, I probably deserve to be scolded a little. *sob*
> 
> I hope the wait didn't ruin the story for you and that you liked this new chapter. I promise I will try not to do this again. I had a huge writer's block with this story and with the three other stories I had going on at the same time was a bit overwhelming. Never doing that again, I can tell you that much, haha.
> 
> Anyway, thank you for reading and thank you for sticking with me! See you next time~ :*


	12. Chapter 12

It had been a week since Takao and Kise's agreement, and so far, everything seemed to be going well. Both seemed pretty happy with everything off their chests, and were both optimistic about their quest for love.

"So, I'm going to be away for a week for some on-site filming, we're going to Okinawa," Kise announced after he had settled down on their couch after coming home.

"Huh, really?" Takao lowered his notes that he had been studying and sketching in.

"Yeah, remember that resort scene I was telling you about?" Kise responded.

"Oh yeah! The part where you and Momoi-san get hot n' heavy," Takao raised his eyebrows a few times exaggeratedly.

Kise grunted, "Shut up, I'm so nervous about that scene," he sighed, "I thought the Ferris wheel kiss was bad, now it looks like nothing."

"Hehe," Takao chuckled, "I'm sure you'll be fine. Its not like you two are actually doing stuff, right?"

"No, we aren't, but we still have to kiss and I have to be all over her and we're both shirtless..." he sighed.

"Just think of Kuroko-chan," Takao shrugged.

Kise's ears reddened a bit, "Th-That would make it even worse..." he mumbled.

Takao smirked and patted Kise on the head, "It'll be fiiiine. Don't psyche yourself out."

Kise groaned and rested his head on Takao's shoulder, "I hope so," he said, closing his eyes. "I'm tired..."

"Get some sleep, model boy," Takao said, picking up his notes.

"Mm..." Kise just made a halfhearted grunt of a response.

* * *

"Hahh... I'm exhausted!" Kise groaned as he slumped into the car seat.

"Well I guess its a good thing you get a couple days off before we have to leave for the shooting," Kuroko replied next to him.

"Yeah, are you sure you're fine with going with us though, Kurokocchi? You aren't going to miss your classes or anything?"

"No, its fine," Kuroko shook his head, "I'm doing my classwork these next couple days instead of having to go in. My professors were also more than happy to oblige to giving me lecture notes and having me submit my work online as well. Once I told them I was an assistant to one of the actors in the upcoming drama, they all got pretty excited."

"Ahh, Kurokocchi is so kind," Kise sighed.

"You and I both know you'll be a disaster if I don't go. It will also cause less stress for Kasamatsu-san too," Kuroko said flatly.

"Urk, you don't have to be so blunt..." Kise mumbled.

Kasamatsu wasn't able to make it for the on-site shooting since he couldn't be away from the office that long. So it was no lie that he felt much more comfortable if Kise had his assistant go with him.

"Well, I'm a little excited about it anyway," Kuroko continued. "We're staying at a beach resort and whenever we don't have to be on set we have free roam. Ah, but Kise-kun should probably stay on his toes. There will probably be paparazzi and journalists hanging around. The buzz for this TV series is starting to increase so the media is getting more and more interested."

"They're the ones that should just leave me be," Kise grumbled.

"All I'm saying is to behave yourself and be mindful," Kuroko sighed.

"Eh, I'm not going to be doing anything bad," Kise crossed his arms and shot a look at Kuroko.

"Who knows, you'll be surrounded by so many girls in bikinis at the beach who might go crazy if they know you are the model and soon-to-be TV star Kise Ryouta," Kuroko looked over.

Kise grunted, pouting a little and sticking out his bottom lip, "I'm not that much of a playboy, that hurts, Kurokocchi."

Kuroko shrugged again, "I'm just going off what the tabloids have said about you in the past."

Kise paused for a moment. It was true he had his fair share of scandalous articles written about him. None of them were necessarily terrible, it wasn't like he was caught for infidelity or anything, but they were enough to get Kasamatsu incredibly angry and Aomine very wary of him around Momoi. He didn't want to be known as the attractive playboy, he wanted to be known for his talents.

Kise leaned against the car door and propped his head up with his hand, "There's nothing to worry about, because I have you..." he mumbled into his hand.

Kuroko leaned forward, looking over at Kise's profile, "Excuse me?"

"I-I have you, so..." Kise's face flushed a pinkish red and vehemently avoided making eye contact with Kuroko as the smaller male leaned in closer to try and get a view of Kise's face.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Kuroko asked as coolly as ever, because nothing seemed to work him up.

Kuroko poked at Kise's arm and the blonde finally turned his head around, but still looked off to the side, avoiding Kuroko's stare.

"I told you, didn't I?" Kise mumbled quietly.

"Hmm," Kuroko tapped his chin. "I'm not sure what you're referring to."

Kise wasn't sure if Kuroko was just messing with him or if he truly didn't know. The smaller man was hard to read in the first place.

"All you ever said was that you wanted to try kissing again," Kuroko continued calmly. "That's all I recall."

Oh. Kuroko was right. He never told Kuroko his feelings outright, did he? He only told Takao how he felt about Kuroko. Now he was feeling even more embarrassed. What if Kuroko was getting the wrong idea?

"That's not..." Kise paused. "It's not just that... kissing..." Kise wrung his hands in his lap.

"Hmm..." Kuroko hummed and backed off of Kise.

"I just... I really like you, Kurokocchi," Kise said, his voice cracking. "Sorry... I know its probably bad to have a crush on an assistant, and I'm a guy so it must be gross to hear-"

"Its fine," Kuroko interrupted.

Kise looked up from his lap and over at Kuroko who was now staring out the window.

"Kise-kun is kind and thoughtful. You never let any sort of fame get to your head - you're very humble," Kuroko continued. "Even though you're simple minded, you're very genuine - So I know your feelings are real."

"Kurokocchi..." Kise slowly began to reach his hand out. What he was reaching out for, he wasn't sure.

Kuroko turned his head around and Kise froze in place, his hand midway between them.

"Let me think about it?" Kuroko said.

"Y-Yeah," Kise nodded, setting his hand back down next to him.

Kuroko went back to looking out the window, "Unfortunately, its more complicated than you think." He sighed. "Also Kasamatsu would probably fire me."

Kise flinched. What Kuroko said was true - dating him was honestly more trouble than it was worth. Not only would the tabloids be all over it if they ever found out, but they were both men and that would cause even more of a scandal. It would probably result in not only him getting fired, but Kuroko's reputation being stained for life.

"I'm sorry, Kurokocchi... I'm sorry I-"

"Its not all your fault," Kuroko sighed.

Kise closed his mouth. The rest of the drive was silent.

* * *

Parting ways with Takao was actually a little difficult. Kise couldn't remember if they had ever gone more than a few days without seeing each other ever since meeting. But of course, if they were going to end their co-dependency on each other, this was something they'd have to get used to.

And besides, Kuroko was with him. The last time Kise saw Kuroko, they left on a pretty awkward note. But of course, Kuroko is too much of a professional to let that affect his job.

But their was still a tension, Kise could feel it. Kise had basically confessed to Kuroko a few days ago, but had yet to get a response. It wasn't a surprise - honestly, if Kuroko was smart, he'd say no. But Kuroko had asked for time to think about it.

They didn't talk much on their plane ride to Okinawa - which was mostly due to the fact Kuroko slept through most of it (and it was cute to see him like that, Kise thought). Once the crew arrived to the hotel, everyone was assigned rooms.

"If you need anything I'm right next door," Imayoshi told Momoi for probably the third time.

"Yes, yes, I know, Imayoshi-san!" She huffed.

Kise was thinking she was probably grateful that she was getting a room to herself so she could have a break from her overbearing manager.

"I'm one floor up if you need anything as well!" Kise said cheerily.

"No, that won't be necessary," Imayoshi said bluntly.

"Honestly, Imayoshi-san!" Momoi scolded, then turned to Kise with a smile. "Thank you, Kise-kun, I will definitely keep it in mind."

"Which room are you staying in, Kurokocchi?" Kise asked. Kuroko held up his room key for Kise to see. "Oh, you're just a few rooms down from me. Well I guess I should keep my assistant close by," Kise joked.

"If you need anything, please come by or call," Kuroko said in a very business-like manner.

"Um, okay..." Kise watched Kuroko walk off towards the elevators without a word.

Kuroko wasn't really acting like his usual self. Maybe he had already made his decision... that he and Kise's relationship should stay nothing but professional. Kise frowned as he watched Kuroko get onto the elevator.

"Hey, Kise-kun, do you want to grab some dinner at the hotel restaurant? Kuroko-kun can join us, if he wants..." Kise heard Momoi speak up next to him.

"Oh, uh," Kise looked from Momoi back to the elevator. "I think Kurokocchi is a bit tired, but I can still join you," Kise smiled.

"Great," Momoi returned the smile. "Can you take our bags up to our rooms, Imayoshi-san?" Momoi asked her manager.

"Yes, I'll be back down afterward," Imayoshi said, grabbing Kise's things.

"No! Stay in your room!" Momoi whined.

"I'll make sure nothing happens, Imayoshi-san," Kise added, which only got a glare from the manager.

"You're worse than Dai-chan..." Momoi groaned.

At that, Imayoshi stiffened, "Well... just don't stay out all hours of the night - and no more than two alcoholic beverages! Filming starts early tomorrow."

Momoi sighed as Imayoshi and another staff member took off with their luggage.

"I swear, I feel like nowadays I can never get any alone time. Thanks for helping me back there, Kise-kun."

"Its no problem - they really should give you space. I know Imayoshi-san cares about your well-being, but all that hovering could drive someone crazy," Kise nodded.

"Right? That's what a try to tell him," Momoi giggled as they walked down the hall of the luxury hotel.

Momoi was nice to be around. She was kind, beautiful, and had a good and humble attitude that you wouldn't expect such an actress to have. She was totally Kise's type, so he wondered why it wasn't her instead of Kuroko he fell for. Honestly, dating her would probably be better for everyone. The tabloids would probably praise a relationship like that, while one with his assistant would be a scandal. It wasn't fair...

Without knowing it, Kise let out a sigh.

"What's wrong, Kise-kun?" Momoi asked.

"Oh - nothing! I'm just pretty tired from the flight," Kise brushed away his thoughts.

"Yeah, me too, but I'm soooo hungry, especially after hearing that this restaurant was amazing!" Momoi grinned.

"This hotel is pretty fancy, so I'm not surprised to hear the restaurant is top notch too."

"Its one of the best in Okinawa!" Momoi beamed. Kise chuckled a bit - who knew Momoi was such a sucker for cuisine?

The two got a table in the VIP section and got a quiet, private, booth. Director Harasawa pretty much got them the works with this hotel, including master suites for the actors and VIP access for everyone including staff.

"Ah, crap, I forgot to call Kasamatsu-san after I got off the plane," Kise slapped his forehead.

"Oh, you should call him now!" Momoi said.

"Nah, that'd be rude to you to make a call right now, I'll just send him a quick text," Kise said as he discreetly typed out a message under the table.

After Kise sent the message he felt himself relax a bit. He also shot one to Takao saying he was eating at a super fancy restaurant. He looked at the menu and was surprised at not only the prices but all of the unknown dishes.

"Do you... know what any of these are?" Momoi asked.

"Err..." Kise scratched his head. "I've heard of 'foie gras' before but I'm not sure I know exactly what it is."

Momoi chuckled, "Its goose liver."

"O-Oh," Kise blushed slightly, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Don't worry - most of the menu I can't make much sense of either," Momoi assured.

Kise felt relieved to hear that. "Do you think I'm under-dressed too? I'm just wearing slacks and dress shirt since Kasamatsu-san told me to look decent for my arrival." Momoi was wearing a simple dress, but she looked elegant in anything.

"You look fine! Plus you're a VIP," Momoi reminded.

The two small talked for a while, and had a lot of questions to ask the waiter when he took their orders.

And of course - Momoi was a pleasant dinner date. She managed to keep the conversation going even when Kise thought he might run out of topics to talk about.

"So, you and Kuroko-kun have become pretty close, haven't you?" Momoi asked once the dinner was coming to an end. As per Kasamatsu's orders, she was on her second and last glass of wine for the night.

"Yes - he's more of a friend than an assistant, really," Kise nodded. Although he wished he could be more than a friend to Kuroko. He wasn't going to mention that, though.

"That's great," Momoi smiled slightly, her fingers sliding down the stem of her glass. "Um, so you must know a lot about each other, right?"

"Uh, I think we know a good bit," Kise shrugged, taking a sip of his wine.

"Um..." Momoi paused, Kise could see that her face was slightly pink - he wasn't sure if it was because of the wine or something else. "D-Do you know if he has a girlfriend... or something..." Momoi's voice became incredibly quite by the end of her question.

Kise was caught off guard, her face reddened even more and her gaze remained on her wine glass.

"Do you... like him?" He asked.

"N-No... well," Momoi stuttered. "Kind of, but I don't know him very well... but I want to get to know him... Oh, please don't tell him!" She begged as she looked up at her co-star.

"I won't I promise," Kise held a hand up.

Momoi sighed, "Thank you..."

Kise was honestly shocked. Momoi liked Kuroko? Well, if he did think about it, Momoi was quite relaxed and friendly, but whenever Kuroko was around she became quiet and nervous. He had never really made the connection before.

"Kurokocchi... he doesn't have a girlfriend," Kise spoke up again.

Momoi looked at him, a bit of hopefulness in her eyes. "Oh, okay, thank you." A small smile formed on her face.

They left the restaurant soon after, Momoi seemed a little buzzed, but still composed. Kise walked her to her room to see her off.

"Thank you for coming to dinner with me tonight," she smiled. "Honestly, I'm so nervous about doing... you know... that one scene."

Kise knew exactly what scene she was talking about, because it was the same scene he had been worked up about too.

"But talking with you has made me a lot more relaxed."

"That's great - me too," Kise gave a smirk. "Maybe next time I can make it where you and Kurokocchi can have dinner together."

"Huh? Y-You don't have to do that..." She flushed.

"Kurokocchi is a good guy! I'm sure if you ask him he'll definitely say yes," Kise assured. "I can even ask him for you."

"W-Well, only if you want," Momoi scuffed her shoe on the carpet.

"I will," Kise gently patted her shoulder. "You should get some rest - we have a busy day tomorrow."

"Yes! Good night, Kise-kun - thank you so much!" Momoi beamed as she waved to Kise.

Kise let out a huge sigh once he got on the elevator. Sure he could've just used the stairs to go up one flight - but he really wasn't feeling up to it.

He opened up the door to his suite - it was huge. It had a dining room, entertainment room, kitchen, bedroom, and even a jacuzzi that was set off from the entertainment room. But all Kise wanted was to lie down in bed. He didn't have the urge to check out everything else.

Kise flipped on the light switch of the bedroom and flopped down face first onto the king size mattress.

If Kuroko and Momoi ended up together, it would be okay, right? They'd look good together, and the media would probably say they were some sort of sweetheart couple. Nothing like what the magazines would say about Kuroko and Kise being together. If Kise truly did like Kuroko, he'd want the best for him - right? And was being together really the best for Kuroko?

Kise fished his phone out of his pocket, checking the messages he had received. One was from Kasamatsu scolding him about how he was supposed to be notified immediately once he got off the plane, but was glad he got there safe. The other was from Takao, saying he was super jealous of Kise being there.

Kise instinctively clicked the call button and held the phone up to his ear. He hugged one of the Egyptian cotton covered pillows close to him as he waited for the other end to pick up.

"Hey, Ryou-chan! How's Okinawa?" A cheery voice answered.

"Its nice. Super nice," Kise mumbled into the pillow.

"Eh, are you drunk already?" Takao teased.

"No, I just miss you," Kise sighed.

"Haha, you are drunk," Takao laughed.

Kise smirked into his pillow. Maybe it was good him and Takao were separated at the moment.

* * *

Even though they were at a resort, it had to be possibly one of the most exhausting days of filming. Not only was most of it outside, but curious people had gathered to watch and take pictures. Promotional things were already being released for the TV series, so people were starting to buzz about it. And, of course, when there's cameras and TV crews around, people are going to naturally be curious about it.

Luckily, the dreaded 'bedroom scene' wasn't due to be filmed for the next couple days, so tension wasn't at an all time high. Especially with Kise and Momoi getting a bit more closer and comfortable with each other the previous night, maybe it wouldn't end up being so bad.

As they were wrapping up, Kise jogged up to Momoi and got close to her, leaning up to her ear.

"I'm going to suggest Kurokocchi join you for dinner tonight, alright?" He whispered to her.

"Eh? Tonight?" Momoi flustered.

"Yeah, why not? If you two hit it off you'll have the rest of the week to have this dream vacation together," Kise smiled.

"Oh, I don't know..." Momoi fidgeted.

"It'll be fine," Kise gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

Momoi smiled and looked up at him, "Thank you, Kise-kun."

Kise returned the smile and headed back to where the rest of the crew gathered. He passed by Imayoshi who seemed to totally ignored him and only had his sites on getting to Momoi.

"Good work today, Kise-kun," Kuroko said, handing Kise a bottle of water.

"Thanks, Kurokocchi, good work to you too," Kise chugged the water and poured some over his head. He was wearing swimming trunks, so he didn't mind getting wet, and the cold water felt incredibly good after spending the day in the hot sun.

"Hey, how about going to dinner tonight? Momoi is coming too," Kise suggested nonchalantly.

"I can't afford it," Kuroko responded bluntly.

"You've got a VIP pass, and the director is picking up the tab for the actors," Kise explained. "Here," he dug in his bag and pulled out his card. "I'm going to be late since I have to talk things over with Kasamatsu-san tonight, but you should head down there at seven and keep Momoi company. Oh - and wear something nice."

Kise held the card out towards Kuroko. Kuroko looked up at Kise and back at the card, seeming a little reluctant, but ended up taking the card from Kise's hand.

"I'll call the restaurant and tell them that you're my guest so they'll know to put it on my tab," Kise finished.

Kuroko eyed Kise for a bit before responding, "Alright."

Kise tried to give his best smile, "See you later, then?"

Kuroko nodded and Kise headed off back to the hotel. He felt bad about lying, but for Momoi's sake he had to do it. He guessed all the acting he had done was paying off - because he felt his chest clench tighter and tighter as he spoke to Kuroko. All he could tell himself was 'this was for the best'.

There was a lot in his room to distract him, but he couldn't quite settle down. He took a dip in the jacuzzi, which felt really nice on his sore muscles, but he couldn't stay in for long. He had a meal from the fully stocked fridge which was actually pretty tasty. He surfed the satellite television, but with all the channels, he still couldn't really find anything interesting to watch. He even thought 'hey maybe I can pay-per-view porn. I can say I did it, at least,' but he didn't necessarily want the director to see that on the room bill.

Only an hour had passed since he got back up to his room, and Kise was already bored. Kuroko should be down at the restaurant right now with Momoi. Honestly, he didn't want to think about it. He instantly thought of calling Takao again, but he knew he shouldn't do it. They agreed to not be so dependent on each other anymore.

He managed to distract himself on his laptop for maybe another half hour, but ultimately decided to try going to bed. He had another early day tomorrow, after all. And judging by Momoi's reactions, he'd probably know if the date went well or not.

Kise wasn't sure how long it took him to start dosing off, but right when he finally felt himself slipping into sleep, he heard loud knocks on his door. He jolted awake at the sudden noise, rubbing his eyes. His mind was feeling hazy from being at the brink of sleep, and he groggily got up out of the bed.

The knocking continued as Kise made his way to the door of his room. Peaking through the peephole of the door, he was surprised to see a head of light blue hair.

He unlocked the door as quickly as he could, "Kurokocchi?"

"Can I come in?" Kuroko simply asked.

"Um, sure..." Kise hesitated for a moment and stepped out of the way for Kuroko to come in. "I-I'm sorry, the talk with Kasamatsu-san was so long, and I was so tired after the shooting today I just-"

"Lets practice your lines," Kuroko interrupted with a straight face.

"Eh?" Kise tilted his head slightly.

"You should probably practice your lines - right? Momoi-san said you two were pretty nervous over the hotel room scene," Kuroko invited himself further into the suite and sat down on the couch.

"Um..." Kise scratched his head and followed Kuroko out into the seating area.

Why did Kuroko want to practice now of all times? And what about Momoi - did they not hit it off well?

Kise slowly sat down on the couch next to him, feeling really unsure about Kuroko's motives.

"You have them all memorized, right?" Kuroko asked.

Kise nodded his head, "Y-Yeah, of course."

"Then start," Kuroko said in his usual monotonous tone.

Kise hesitated for a moment, he still didn't quite understand how Kuroko's brain worked. But he decided to just go along with it - surely Kuroko was doing this for a reason?

"This hotel is pretty amazing - I guess its to be expected for a young mistress," Kise began.

"I can't stand it. I can't believe my father made us stay at this gaudy hotel," Kuroko responded. He and Kise had gone over the lines so many times, it wasn't a surprise he ended up learning them himself.

"Can't we just enjoy ourselves? Your father is actually being supportive by doing this for us, you know," Kise said the next line.

"Supportive? Hardly. He's getting a power trip out of this - showing me how much money he has, that he can book this resort suite at the drop of a dime. He's basically mocking me, saying how I could never achieve things like this on my own," Kuroko crossed his arms. He even remembered the actions, huh?

"Mariko," Kise placed his hand on Kuroko's shoulder. "I know you want to prove yourself, and I know you can do it. That idea you told me the other day - it was brilliant! It'll definitely make your father eat his own words."

Kuroko looked up at Kise, "Do you really think so?"

"Yes," Kise slowly raised his hand and gently ran them through Kuroko's hair. His hair was so soft. "Take this moment to be the last that your father shows you up - repay it tenfold. Act like the good, obedient daughter right now, and shove it all back in his face when you run the number one company in Japan."

"Ken..." Kuroko said, barely above a whisper.

This is the moment they kiss, Kise thought. This is the moment their kiss turns into something more. They were going to end it here, right? This wasn't going to end up like the last time, right?

Kise could feel Kuroko's finger's gently stroke the back of his hand.

No, he shouldn't. Kuroko would be better off with Momoi. It would be better for everyone. Then why was Kuroko in his room right now instead of her's? Why were they practicing his lines - this scene?

Kise's tongue darted out to lick his lips as Kuroko's eyes fixed on his.

"Kise-kun," Kuroko said in a similar fashion as before, but now addressing Kise by name.

Kise's mind was in a jumble, he wasn't sure what he was doing or thinking. It was as if his body was moving on it's own as he soon felt his lips press against Kuroko's. Kuroko's lips he longed to feel again.

He kissed Kuroko again, Kuroko placing his hand on the back of Kise's neck. Kise felt himself getting pulled down on the couch and allowed it. Before he knew it, his body was hovering over Kuroko's, their lips still together and Kise giving a light, sucking tug at Kuroko's bottom lip.

Kise ran his tongue against Kuroko's lips, the other man giving a soft sigh as he opened his mouth to let Kise in. Their kisses turned deeper, Kise's mind grew hazier - all he wanted to do was to melt with the other man.

Their breathing was labored as Kise's hand wandered down Kuroko's torso. Kuroko might've looked small compared to Kise, but he was still lean and muscular.

Kise's hand rested on Kuroko's hip, "Kurokocchi," he said in a raspy whisper between sloppy and messy kisses.

Kise's lips trailed down from Kuroko's lips down to his neck. Kuroko's steady breaths and heaving chest was somewhat erotic as Kise licked and sucked at the base of Kuroko's neck - he wanted to see more.

He grabbed the top button of Kuroko's shirt, hastily unbuttoning it to expose more of his skin. Kuroko's skin was pale and slightly flushed. Driven by his need to see more, Kise continued releasing the button's one by one, trying his best to cover every new patch of exposed skin with his mouth - wanting to taste every inch of Kuroko. Hearing Kuroko's quiet and stifled moans encouraged him on even more.

Heat and blood rushed southward in Kise's body. He marveled at Kuroko's exposed chest that was now covered in slight scratch marks from Kise's teeth and trails of saliva.

Kise's slowly moved his hand that had been resting on Kuroko's hip towards his crotch. He wanted to feel if Kuroko's arousal was the same as his.

But before Kise could continue any further, another loud knocking came from the door.

"Kise-kun! It's Harasawa."

Kise looked behind him at the door and froze and he could feel Kuroko's body stiffen as well beneath him.

"Um, just a minute!" Kise called out.

He looked back at Kuroko to see him buttoning up his shirt. Kise gingerly got up off of him.

"S-Sorry..." Kise said awkwardly.

He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down, checking himself out in a passing mirror to make sure he didn't look ruffled. He made his way to the door and opened up.

"Hello, Harasawa-san," Kise greeted.

"Hello, Kise. Sorry for dropping by so late, but there's a few things I want to discuss with you about tomorrow."

"It's fine, um," Kise looked behind him to see Kuroko standing up from the couch, his shirt buttoned up and hair in order.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know you had a guest," Harasawa spotted Kuroko.

"It's fine! My assistant was just... helping me with some lines," Kise rubbed the back of his neck.

"I was just about to head out," Kuroko said as he approached the door.

"Thanks for working so hard, then," Harasawa said to Kuroko, who slightly bowed in response.

"Uh, good night, Kurokocchi," Kise called out as Kuroko walked out into the hallway.

Kuroko nodded and walked off.

"You and your assistant are pretty close, huh?" Harasaw said as he stepped into the room.

"Y-Yeah," Kise gave a half laugh as he closed the door.

"That's good - keep him around," Harasawa replied.

Kise wondered if that would even be possible.

* * *

Kise worried the next morning how he was going to face Kuroko and Momoi. He still didn't know what was up with Kuroko the previous night, and he hadn't heard anything from Momoi since the end of filming the previous day.

As he joined the rest of the crew that were setting up for the day, he spotted Momoi. Hesitantly, he made his way over to her.

"Hey, Momoi-san," Kise greeted meekly.

She turned around with the usual smile on her face, "Good morning, Kise-kun."

She didn't seem sad or upset. But then again, she was an actress, she couldn't let her emotions get in the way of her job.

"So... how did last night go?" Kise asked.

"Oh," she turned her gaze out towards the sunrise. "He rejected me - but that's okay!"

"Huh? R-Really?" Kise said in mild surprise.

"Mhm," she nodded. "He was very nice about it. He said he was flattered and that anyone would be lucky to be with me, but he already had someone he liked."

Kise was quiet for a moment after hearing Momoi's words. "I see... I'm sorry."

"No, no, I'm glad, actually, so thank you for giving us that chance," Momoi said with a smile. "I won't be bothered by it anymore, so now I feel like I have some closure."

Kise smiled warmly. Momoi really was a good person. "I'm glad, then. I know there's someone out there for you."

"All cast members come in for make-up!" One of the staff called out.

"Looks like we're needed," Momoi commented as she and Kise walked together.

Once Kise got to his station, he got a shock of an unexpected presence.

"Here's your coffee, Kise-kun."

Kise jumped up in his chair a bit as he turned to look towards the voice.

"Th-Thank you, Kurokocchi," he sighed as he took the coffee from his assistant's hand.

"Is there anything else you need?" Kuroko asked.

"... Yeah, actually," Kise looked Kuroko in the eyes. "Your dinner with Momoi... how did that go?"

Kuroko narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms, "I think it was pretty devious of you to set that up."

Kise flinched at Kuroko's glare.

"I felt bad turning down Momoi-san, you know."

"S-Sorry..." Kise mumbled.

"Also I'm kind of angry with you," Kuroko continued.

"Eh? Wh-Why?"

"You confessed to me, I tell you to wait for my response, and then you try to get me to be with someone else," Kuroko sighed. "I honestly don't know what goes through your mind sometimes."

Kise could feel himself sinking lower and lower at Kuroko's words. He was right. "I'm sorry... Momoi told me that she liked you, and I figured being with her would be better for you than being with me. I mean, being with me would cause nothing but trouble, and-"

"Don't you think I considered that?" Kuroko interrupted with a sighed. "Of course that's what I thought of when you confessed to me. That's why I needed time. But you're really giving me mixed signals if you're setting me up on dates."

"I'm sorry, Kurokocchi, I'm sorry. I just wanted what was best for you," Kise pouted.

It was quiet for a moment between the two of them before Kuroko sighed yet again. "I went to your room to give you your answer last night."

Kise looked back up at his assistant.

"I'm going to assume you don't just do that sort of thing to anyone that invites themselves up to your room. Do I have to worry you did something with Harasawa too?"

"N-No! We just talked about the shoot today," Kise shook his head. Kuroko rolled his eyes for Kise missing the joke. "But d-does that mean... you feel the same way as me?"

"If you're too dense to figure out, I'll just be going," Kuroko made to turn around.

"No, wait," Kise grabbed Kuroko's arm.

Kuroko stopped in place.

"I really like you, Kurokocchi. I'm so happy you've returned my feelings..." Kise said quietly.

"We'll talk more later. We can't have anyone hear us," Kuroko responded.

"Knock, knock, time to do your make-up, Kise-san," the cheery voice of the make-up artist sounded from behind them.

"Let me know if you need anything else," Kuroko said before dismissing himself from the room.

"Ahh, you have such a cute assistant, Kise-san, I'm so jealous!" The woman said cheerily as she began to lay out her make up.

"He's a great guy," Kise said with a lighthearted laugh.

"And now what's this? Are you already wearing make-up? That blush on your cheeks is pretty strong - what were you two talking about? That pretty Momoi-san?" The make-up artist teased.

"Something like that," Kise said with a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another long wait for an update, but I hope this longer chapter made up for it! I also hope the flow is fine with this ;~; But maybe I'm worrying too much.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for being so patient! I'm really happy whenever I see people enjoying my story. ^^ See you next time~!


	13. Chapter 13

 Takao took his regular seat next to Miyaji for his earliest lecture of the day. He was feeling rather refreshed despite this class being a chore to come in on time for.  


"Hey," Miyaji greeted as he opened up his notes on his laptop.

"Yooo," Takao replied while he dug through his bookbag.

Takao looked up to see their professor was already there, leaning over the desk to type some things up on the computer. Presumably for the lecture that day.

"Did I ever say Dr. Kirishima is pretty hot?" Takao said casually as he laid out his notebook.

Miyaji gave a huge sigh, "Yes, yes you have, Takao."

"I mean, he's pretty young too, not married..." Takao's eyes stayed fixed on his professor who seemed to be furrowing his brows at the computer screen.

"Honestly, if I was doing really badly in this class I'd probably ask him to give me 'extra lessons'. He could bend me over that desk, and-"

"Takao, if you don't want me to actually strangle you, you'll shut," Miyaji growled.

Takao gave a hardy laugh that caused a few heads to turn.

"I'm not sure if you're kidding or serious half the time," Miyaji griped.

"Hm, well, I might've been serious before, but I'm gonna stop that kind of thing," Takao rested his head on his hand.

Miyaji looked over at him with a raised eyebrow, "Oh, really? Why is that?"

Takao couldn't help but grin, "I've got my eyes on someone - seriously, this time. I really like him."

"Huh..." Miyaji studied Takao's expression. "Well, I hope it works out then. And I pray for the poor guy."

"Thanks~" Takao hummed, completely ignoring Miyaji's latter statement. "Maybe I should help you out a little with hooking up - I know a lot of people on campus. I'll find a good girl for you... or a guy?"

"Yeah, thanks but no thanks," Miyaji pushed Takao away who was leaning towards him.

* * *

Kise was gone for the rest of the week filming in Okinawa. Takao had a lot of homework to get finished that week, and even started on his once-a-week volunteer work at the local nursing home - so he was pretty busy. The lack of another person in the house when he was so used to being around Kise was still noticeable, though.

Luckily, Takao managed to get an 'okay' from Midorima to come over on Friday and spend the night. Takao would've offered for Midorima to come over to his place, but he didn't necessarily trust himself around his new crush while they were all alone. Midorima said that 'Aiko has been wanting to see you again,' but Takao thought he noticed a bit of eagerness in Midorima's eyes when he told Takao he could come over.

And now the day he had been waiting for all week was upon him. Takao and Midorima walked together to the train station after they got out of their last classes of the day.

"Ah, I've been waiting for this all week," Takao said happily as they stepped onto the train. "Ryou-chan has been gone since the beginning of the week. I've managed to get a lot of work done, but I've been so boooored."

"Hm. You and Kise are quite close, aren't you?" Midorima said.

"Yeah, he really is my best friend," Takao nodded, "Honestly, this is probably the longest I've gone since we've met that I haven't seen him, so its been a little sad."

"Well, you'll have me and Aiko to keep you company today," Midorima mumbled almost inaudibly as he pushed up his glasses.

"Aww, Shin-chan is going to comfort me," Takao giggled as he leaned against Midorima.

Midorima simply grunted and made a half-hearted attempt to shove Takao off of him.

Upon arriving at the Midorima household, the two were greeted by an eager little girl wearing an apron just her size.

"Hi, Takao-kun!" Aiko said excitedly, all her attention focused on her crush and none of it on her brother. There was a sweet smell in the air.

"Hey, Aiko-chan, I missed you!" Takao said with a smile as he took off his shoes.

"I, um, made you cookies..." Aiko said with a slight blush on her face.

"Eh, that's awesome! Cookies made by Aiko-chan~" Takao patted her on the head which made her flush even more.

"Hello, boys, the cookies just came out of the oven," Mrs. Midorima came out to greet them, wearing an apron as well and taking off an oven mitt from her hand. It was apparent that she had helped Aiko make the cookies.

Takao took Aiko's small, outstretched hand as she led him to the kitchen. Midorima followed behind.

"They're chocolate chip!" Aiko announced proudly.

"Oh, I love chocolate chip cookies," Takao said as he rubbed his stomach. He looked at the pan of cookies and saw that they were in the shape of hearts. How cute, he thought.

"You boys can have one, but only one. Dinner should be ready soon and I don't want you spoiling your appetites," Mrs. Midorima spoke up.

"Takao-kun can have the first one," Aiko said.

"Are you sure? Wouldn't you want your brother to have the first cookie?" Takao asked.

"No, I made them for you!"

Takao felt like he could nearly hear Midorima's heart shatter just a little bit. His sis-con was pretty strong, after all.

Takao picked up one of the heart shaped cookies and took a bite. It was actually very good, he was pretty sure Mrs. Midorima did most of the work in making them, but Aiko seemed so proud and eager to see Takao's verdict on them.

"This is delicious! Best cookie I've ever had," Takao gave a thumbs up.

"Th-Thank you," Aiko blushed while wringing her hands and looking down at her feet.

"Here, Shin-chan, try one," Takao picked up another cookie and held it out to Midorima.

"Am I even allowed to have one?" Oh yeah, he was pretty grumpy.

"I'm sure you can, right, Aiko-chan?" Takao asked her.

"Yeah... if Takao-kun is okay with it," Aiko said meekly.

Midorima wore a hard expression despite himself and took the cookie from Takao and taking a bite. "Its very good, Aiko," he announced after swallowing his mouthful.

"Thanks, nii-chan," her response was a lot less flattering than Takao's.

Takao gave Midorima a playful nudge. Something to the effect of, 'people get a little weird when they're in love, don't let it bother you'.

After dinner was finished, Aiko went to take her bath while Midorima and Takao sat in the living room watching television.

"Your mom is a great cook," Takao said while rubbing his stomach.

"I'll tell her you said so," Midorima responded.

"Oh yeah, and don't let the whole thing with Aiko-chan get to you. Trust me - my sister went through the same thing when she got her first crush. It was like I didn't even exist. She even said she was going to marry me too!" Takao wiped away a fake tear.

"I'm not... bothered by it," Midorima mumbled.

"Liar, you totally are! For once you aren't Aiko-chan's number one and it's making you upset," Takao teased.

Midorima grunted and focused his eyes on the television even though the program wasn't very interesting.

"Aww, Shin-chan, you're pretty cute when you're pouting," Takao poked at Midorima's cheek. His hand was quickly swatted away.

"I'm not pouting, so quit it," Midorima huffed.

"Oh man, its worse than I thought!" Takao laughed.

"If you don't stop, I'm kicking you out," Midorima growled.

"Okay, Okayyy. Now I know what really gets under your skin," Takao was clearly not intimidated by Midorima's threat.

A few more minutes of Midorima silently brooding later, Aiko came back from her bath in her pajamas.

"Mom said I could stay up later today since its the weekend and we have a guest," she announced. "So, um, can we play something?"

"Yeah! You want to play with Aiko-chan too, right, Shin-chan?" Takao nudged his friend.

"If... Aiko wants," he said in a low tone.

"Nii-chan can play," she nodded. "Let's go to my room!"

Takao and Midorima stood up from the couch and followed Aiko to her room. It was Takao's first time seeing it and he couldn't have expected anything less than what he saw. The walls were painted a milky pink, dolls and toys were boxed neatly in the corner along with a dollhouse. Her bedsheets also had a similar shade of pink as her walls, and at the foot of the bed was a small, pink table in the middle of her room.

"Let's play house," she announced. "I'm the mom and Takao-kun can be the dad."

"Alright," Takao said happily.

"Aren't I usually the dad?" Midorima spoke up. Takao was a little surprised to hear him announce something like that. He really had to hold back a laugh.

"Takao-kun is the dad for today, you can be our son," Aiko said with finality as she walked over to her box of toys.

Takao gave Midorima a somewhat sympathetic look, Midorima looking away.

Aiko seemed to have gotten out plastic kitchen set. She set down colorful bowls and utensils on the floor and started to, what seemed like, mixing up imaginary food in the bowl.

Takao decided to take the lead and start everything off. "I'm home! Mm, something smells good." He walked over and sat down next to Aiko.

"Hello, dear," Aiko responded in an amusingly adult way. She must be mimicking her mother. "I made your favorite meal today."

"Oh, thank you! I can't wait to eat it - I have the best wife ever," Takao grinned, causing Aiko to look away from him shyly. "I hope our son gets home from school soon as well," he looked over at Midorima who let out a gruff sigh.

"I'm... home," Midorima announced and sat on the other side of Aiko.

"Did you get your test back today?" Aiko asked as she crossed her arms.

"Um," Midorima paused for a moment, "... Yes." He pretended to hand her a piece of paper.

Aiko took the pretend paper and looked at it in her hands, "50 points!? I thought you studied for this test - you're grounded!"

"W-What? I didn't..."

"You aren't getting any desert tonight, young man," Aiko continued to scold and Takao tried his hardest not to burst out laughing.

Midorima gave a huge sigh.

The rest of the play session went much the same. Apparently, in this scenario, Midorima wasn't the model student he actually was, so he consistently got grounded for one reason or another, (for example, he apparently didn't finish his dinner) but really, both older men knew it was so Aiko could interact with Takao more.

"Aiko, its time for bed," Mrs. Midorima came into view in the doorway.

"Aww..." Aiko groaned. She was in the middle of making a fake bento for Takao's work the next morning while Takao helped.

"We can play some more next time," Takao reassured the gloomy looking girl.

Midorima didn't seem too upset by the interruption as he was up and walking towards the door in no time.

Takao gave Aiko a pat on her head as he stood up, "Good night, Aiko-chan." He give her a kind grin which made her look a lot less upset about having to go to bed.

"Thanks for playing with her, I know you're here to spend time with Shintarou so I'm sorry Aiko is monopolizing your time," Mrs. Midorima said as she closed the door to Aiko's room.

"It isn't a problem at all! I love kids and she totally reminds me of my sister when she was younger. And Aiko-chan is a really good kid."

Mrs. Midorima smiled, "Well, thank you so much. Don't worry, I'm taking Aiko for some shopping tomorrow so you and Shintarou can go off and have fun.

Takao bade Mrs. Midorima a good night before heading towards his friend's room. The door was ajar and there was a faint noise coming from the room.

"Knock, knock," Takao said as he slid into the room.

It seemed like what was classical music playing from Midorima's computer as he fiddled around with something on his bookshelf.

"Sorry you had to spend the whole evening entertaining Aiko," he said without averting his eyes from his task.

"Eh? Again with this? Its seriously no problem - Aiko-chan is fun to hang around. In fact, I feel like I should be the one apologizing. I probably should've been the soft dad and not let you get grounded so much, but it was way too funny," Takao chuckled as he took a seat at the desk the computer sat on.

Midorima let out a soft sigh, "Aiko is just infatuated with you, that's all. I know she doesn't mean it personally." He finished doing whatever he was doing at his shelf and sat down on the edge of his bed.

Takao found himself wishing that she wasn't the only member of the Midorima family infatuated with him. That thought was a little embarrassing to even admit to himself. "Well, good. Like I said, she'll grow out of it." Takao glanced over at the shelf to see several nicknacks lined up neatly. That must've been what Midorima was messing with - dusting them off or arranging them, something like that.

"Your lucky item."

Takao looked over at Midorima. "Huh?"

"Your lucky item - do you have it for today?" Midorima repeated.

"Ah, damn, I totally forgot about today. Honestly, I've been so distracted lately studying for our tests it completely slipped my mind the past couple of days."

Midorima glanced over at his shelf and then back to Takao. "You should have your one for tomorrow. If I happen to have it, you can borrow it from me."

Takao smiled slightly, "Thanks, Shin-chan."

"I just don't want you messing up your luck with your tests, that's all," Midorima huffed while pushing up his glasses.

Takao turned his attention to the computer that was still playing orchestral music. "Got any games on here?" Takao took hold of the mouse and searched the desktop. The background was something totally unoffensive and bland, of course. Just an outdoor scenic picture.

"Not really," Midorima didn't seem bothered with Takao poking around his computer as he grabbed a book off his nightstand and leaned back in bed.

"Ehh," Takao said in a monotone voice as he clicked around the folders. "You gotta have a porn stash though, right?"

Midorima jolted a bit at that. "That's ridiculous," he scoffed.

"Shin-chan, whats ridiculous is a guy your age who doesn't have a porn stash," Takao chuckled a bit at the end of his sentence. "You probably like mature women, very respectable looking and all that."

Midorima just grumbled as he tried to read his book.

Takao got a bit bored with trying to get a rise out of Midorima. He contemplated just looking up some porn on the computer himself, but he didn't want to actually make him angry. Instead he just checked his usual websites, causing a bit of silence between the two of them for a few minutes.

"What do you do for fun, Shin-chan?" Takao spoke up again after trying to catch Midorima in his lie and trying to look for porn sites in his history. Nothing.

Midorima was silent for a moment and shrugged. "Read, play shogi, listen to music... Theater, when I used to do it. I still read a lot of plays,"

Takao knew why there was a shogi game on the computer now. But he was a bit disappointed in how boring his friend seemed to be. Takao felt like he knew Midorima for quiet some time now, and while at first he seemed like an interesting guy, he was pretty normal, wasn't he?

"... I like to stay in shape. Believe it or not, I'm quite good at basketball."

"Huh? Really?" Takao perked up at that.

Midorima didn't seem to like how surprised Takao was at that, "Yes. I played in middle school. I didn't play in high school since I was so busy with studies, but continued to play on occasion."

"Woah, I played in middle school too! Me and Ryou-chan were on the same team. Maybe we've actually met before?" Takao said excitedly.

Midorima adjusted his glasses. "I feel like I would've recognized Kise."

"Oh, yeah that's true," Takao sunk a bit. "Well, our team wasn't the best. Ryou-chan was the MVP but we still barely made it far in competitions.

"Then that's probably why we never crossed paths," Midorima closed his book.

"Oh? Was your team really good?" Takao leaned back in the chair.

"Yes, I went to Teikou," Midorima replied.

"Eh? Teikou? That Teikou? You were on that unbeatable team!?" Takao asked in awe.

"... Yes," Midorima nodded.

"Hah, so cool," Takao grinned. "So you were pretty bad-ass back in the day, huh?"

Midorima grunted. "Something like that. It was mostly because of Akashi anyway."

"Hm? Was that your coach?" Takao asked.

"No, he was our captain," Midorima looked a bit grim. "He was very intimidating."

"This guy must've been scary to intimidate a guy like you," Takao said. Midorima might be a bit weird or bland at times, but he definitely wasn't a wimp.

"You could say that," Midorima replied. "If you were out of line you'd be very quick to get back in because of the pressure you felt pushing down on you simply from him just looking at you. He was incredibly serious about basketball. No, I should say it was more like, he was very serious about winning. A perfectionist."

"Jeeze, he doesn't sound very friendly," Takao wasn't sure if he would've stuck with basketball with a guy like that on his team.

"You'd be surprised," Midorima said.

"What, were you friends with him?" Takao cocked his head a bit.

"I was the vice captain, so I got to spend a lot of time with him," Midorima crossed his arms. "We had a lot of similar interests. He was someone that understood the need for spending some quiet time away from the others. We spent a lot of time playing shogi in silence."

"Huh..." Takao was surprised that Midorima had found another weirdo on his basketball team. Well, maybe 'weirdo' was too harsh of a word. "Did he go on to play basketball in high school?"

"Of course," Midorima replied. "We went to separate high schools. I knew if I went to the same school as him he'd pester me to join the basketball team," Midorima sighed slightly. "But he still did that even though I went to a different school."

"You must've been good if a guy like that was begging you to get on his team," Takao said.

"Well, I'm not one to brag. But I think its because we were similar in the way of achieving our goals that he wanted me to return to basketball. And every year he tried to convince me to switch schools and join the team."

"Hmm, maybe he liked you~" Takao giggled.

Midorima furrowed his brow as he gave Takao a glare. "Unlikely. He's the kind of person that gets what he wants. If he felt that way he would've made it obvious long ago."

"I was kidding!" Takao made to nudge Midorima on the leg with his foot. "Do you still talk to him? I'm assuming he tried to get you to join his college basketball team too."

"Yes, but he gave up on trying to get me to join his team. He said something like, he knew my ambitions to join the medical world would overshadow anything else. There was no use in trying anymore," Midorima replied.

"So... You two are just friends now?" Takao asked.

"You could say that. We meet up occasionally to play shogi and such. Sometimes a game of basketball - that's when it becomes apparent he has a lot more years on me."

Takao was a little surprised he hadn't heard of this 'Akashi' before, especially considering this seemed to be Midorima's only friend besides himself.

"Maybe I'll meet him one day," Takao shrugged.

"... Yes, maybe," There was a bit of reluctance in Midorima's voice. Takao took that as 'if you do, I know you two would never get along'.

"Hey, you own a shogi board, right? Let's play!" Takao stood up from his chair.

"You know how to play?" Midorima raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah! Well, kind of," Takao shrugged. "I played a few times with my grandpa when I was younger."

Midorima rolled his eyes a little before going to his shelf and grabbing his shogi board. As he set up the board, Takao's eyes went from the pieces to Midorima. He really couldn't get over his friend's handsome features. Midorima really would be such a ladies man if he didn't exude the aura of 'don't even think of talking to me'.

"Thanks, again," Takao spoke up.

"For what?" Midorima asked without looking up from his task.

"For having me over," Takao continued. "Really, I do get lonely pretty easily. I guess that's why I'm so quick to be with guys," he chuckled.

Midorima glanced up for a moment, "But you haven't been doing that lately, right?"

"Nope," Takao smiled slightly. "As long as you'll have me over whenever I get weak," he chuckled again.

"... Sure," Midorima's response was quiet, but not enough for Takao to miss it.

"You're such a good guy, Shin-chan."

"Hmph."

Midorima showed a small smile on his face, which surprised Takao a bit. It was a rare sight, so Takao took it in. It made his heart clench a bit - he wanted to make Midorima smile a lot more.

* * *

After a bit of Midorima explaining a lot more about shogi than he thought he would have to and Takao joking around a bit too much, the two started to get tired and got ready for bed.

"Can I sleep on your bed again?" Takao asked with a smirk after he had returned from the bath.

"No," Midorima said bluntly as he laid out a futon.

"Aww, come on, I think your bed is big enough for the both of us," he teased. It might've been big enough for both of them, but the two would have to be incredibly close - something Takao wouldn't mind at all.

Midorima sighed and pushed up his glasses, "No, thank you."

Takao pretended to pout as Midorima finished up with the futon and rolled back the covers of his bed.

"Fine, fine," Takao surrendered. He decided he gave Midorima a hard enough time during the shogi game so he was going to lay off a bit for now.

Midorima took off his glasses and turned off the lamp by his bed as soon as Takao got under the covers.

"Night, Shin-chan~" Takao hummed.

"Good night."

* * *

Midorima woke up earlier than Takao (of course) but he at least got to sleep in a bit this time. Takao walked downstairs to see Midorima cleaning up in the kitchen.

"G'morning," Takao said lazily, rubbing his eyes.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?" Midorima asked as he threw a dirty towel away.

"Mm, yeah. That futon is actually pretty comfortable," Takao yawned. "Where's the kid?"

"Aiko and mom left a few minutes ago," Midorima replied while washing his hands.

"Aww! Why didn't you wake me?" Takao sauntered next to Midorima.

"Mom didn't want to be rude. You two will see each other again."

Takao liked it when Midorima brought up the possibility of having him over again. "That's true. So, what do you want to do today?"

"I figured we could go to that café you took me to on a couple previous occasions," Midorima dried his hands on a towel.

"Oh? Do you like the place that much?" Takao was a bit surprised.

"Its fine. Mostly, its for your sake. Today your lucky item isn't an item, but a place - a café. And your luck isn't the greatest today either," Midorima said with seriousness.

"O-Oh," Takao thought it was silly, but he appreciated the fact that Midorima seemed to actually care about him. In a weird way.

And that's what brought them to the café not much later.

"Oh, you brought your friend again today. Err, Shinichi?" Riko tapped her lip with her pen.

Takao, of course, let out a laugh.

"Just... Midorima is fine," the man said through slightly gritted teeth.

"I'm guessing that wasn't the right name. Sorry about that..." Riko pushed some of her hair behind her ear with a nervous smile.

After Riko took their orders, Takao knew he had to at least poke a little fun at the expense of Midorima.

"Shinichi... I'm not sure that suits you very well," Takao teased.

"Its because you gave me that ridiculous nickname," Midorima huffed.

"Aww, come on, you like it just a little, don't you? Shin-chan?" Takao raised his eyebrows.

"I do not. I've just given up on trying to get you to stop," Midorima grumbled.

Their conversation stopped briefly as Riko came back with their drinks.

"But don't people like it when people give them cute nicknames?" Takao continued, tearing the end of his straw wrapper.

"There's nothing cute about you calling me that," Midorima forcefully balled up his straw wrapper.

"Che... I bet it would be different if I was a petite girl," Takao pouted.

"N-No, it wouldn't," Midorima furrowed his brow while he took a sip from his drink.

"Aww, see! You hesitated for a bit. Why wasn't I born a cute girl?" Takao whined.

"You're fine the way you are," Midorima said rather nonchalantly, but then seemed to quickly realize the meaning of his words. "A-Anyway, why would you want to be a girl just so I wouldn't mind you calling me that ridiculous nickname in the first place?" He asked, trying to recover from his embarrassment.

His eyes stayed downcast and focused on his drink.

But instead of a response he felt something rather light hit his forehead. His eyes darted upward just in time to see Takao snickering with his straw in hand. Looking down to see what just hit him, Midorima noticed it was an empty straw wrapper.

"... Really?" He looked back up at Takao.

"You looked so flustered and serious - I had to do something," Takao said between chuckles.

Midorima sighed, "Of course."

"Aww, that didn't make you mad, did it, Shin-chan? At least it wasn't a spitball."

"I'm not mad, I'm used to your behavior, after all," Midorima curled up the wrapper that was previously aimed for his forehead and tossed it to join the other.

"I'm slowly rubbing off on you, aren't I, Shin-chan," Takao poked at Midorima's arm with a catlike smile on his face.

"Hmph, possibly," Midorima's mouth turned up slightly.

The rest of their lunch wasn't as goofy, and in fact they ended up talking more about their schoolwork than anything. Midorima seemed to actually be impressed with the volunteer work Takao was doing. He even acknowledged that Takao's personality seemed like it would be good for the moral at the nursing home. It was never not surprising to hear the usually stoic Midorima to give out praise like that.

"You said you were going to go to the university library afterward - you didn't need to walk me to the train station," Takao said as they neared the station.

"Its fine. I needed some fresh air before going to study," it seemed like Midorima just made up the excuse on the spot, which made Takao kind of happy.

"I would join you, but I'd probably be a distraction," Takao laughed. "Plus I have to clean up the apartment. Haven't really done much cleaning since Ryou-chan left..."

"You should do that then," Midorima agreed.

"Well, we're here."

The two stopped and Takao turned around to Midorima. "I really appreciate you having me over, you know? Thanks, Shin-chan," Takao nudged Midorima's arm.

"And I told you it was no problem," Midorima pushed his glasses up.

"Well, just wanted to thank you again," Takao shrugged. He paused for a moment before taking a few steps towards Midorima, standing up on his toes, and giving the taller man a small peck on the cheek. "See you later!" Takao said with a smile before trotting away from Midorima.

After a few steps, he turned to wave and saw Midorima's face so red he looked like an overly ripe, red carrot. Takao laughed at the sight and continued towards his train, his heart beating a mile a minute. Luckily, he caught the train at nearly the perfect time and filed in with the rest of the passengers.

He grabbed a handle by one of the doors of the train and let out a huge breath. His heart was still beating fast, and honestly, he couldn't remember it ever beating like this before. It was a mix of excitement and a little bit of fear. He had no idea why he decided to just go and give Midorima a kiss like that, let alone in such a public place. He wouldn't be too surprised if Midorima was furious at him right now.

But in his mind he had to do it. It was an impulse. Just like how he shot the straw wrapper at Midorima earlier. There was no way he was going to say, 'I wish you would like me as much as I like you,' and just thought of anything to break the mood. But Takao had just turned everything over on its head now, hadn't he?

And it wasn't like Takao was new to dating - he'd been on plenty dates with plenty guys. So why couldn't he just ask Midorima out? Why was it so difficult? He had plenty of opportunities, but he felt a fluttering nervousness in his chest every time he considered it.

Takao sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he gripped tighter on the ring as the train begin to move. Maybe... he had never actually been in love before? Even though there had been guys he dated where he thought 'yeah, maybe it could work out with him,' he never felt this strange but scary bliss in his chest that would drop down to his stomach. And he got not one, but two smiles out of Midorima that weekend! And both made him feel like his chest could burst at any moment.

Takao laughed to himself. He thought he was pretty smooth with guys, but this was territory he'd never experienced before.

"I wonder if Ryou-chan is having any better luck than I am."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for continuing to patient with these chapters, everyone. Just been struggling a bit to find my motivation, but I don't enjoy writing these any less. Its mostly me not wanting to upload mediocre content. ^^; So I hope this chapter was enjoyable for you! I'm very grateful for all the feedback and see you next time~! :*


	14. Chapter 14

"Ah, Takashi, stop," Takao grunted as he placed his hand with slight force against the chest of another man who had been quick to start groping and caressing his body.

"Huh? What's up with you today? Ain't that why you usually come to the bar?" The bulky man with dark hair backed off a little, but his hand still rested on Takao's waist.

"I'm not messing around anymore," Takao said with finality.

"Ah, you got a new man or somethin'?" Takashi's hand fell from Takao's waist almost in defeat.

"Well... not yet," Takao rubbed the back of his neck.

"Eh? Doesn't that mean you're still free game?"

Takashi made to put his hands on Takao again, but was quickly stopped.

"Nope," Takao swatted the wandering hand nearing his waist. "I'm serious - I really like this guy."

"Hahh... Fine," Takashi groaned. "What's so special about this guy anyway? That you of all people would claim celibacy without even being with him."

"First of all - kind of offended you think I can't keep it in my pants for long."

"You can't."

"Second of all," Takao continued, dismissing the comment. "I'm... not sure why he's so special. I just love being around him. I love everything about him..." Takao sighed.

"Gross," Takashi scoffed.

"Hey, you could do with some real affection. How about having a steady relationship for once?" Takao nudged the other man.

"Nah, no thanks," Takashi waved his hand in dismissal. "I'm not one for sappy crap like that."

"You say that now..." Takao hummed. The other man rolled his eyes.

"Hey, Kazucchi, I got our drinks," Kise walked up with two beers in his hands.

"Ah, thanks!" Takao grabbed for one of the drinks and took a hearty gulp from the bottle.

"Eh? Why are you talking with Takashi-kun? I thought you were swearing off guys for Midorimacchi?" Kise eyed the other man he had met on more than a few occasions.

"He was just leaving," Takao gave a light push against Takashi's arm.

"Jeeze, I can tell when I'm not wanted," Takashi said with a huff. "Unless Kise-kun wants to finally..."

"Nope, I'm taken," Kise said rather proudly holding up a hand to stop Takashi in his tracks.

"Fine, fine," Takashi laughed. "You two can be lost in la-la land all you want. I'll be fine on my own," he gave a brief wave and walked away.

"I can't believe you and Kuroko-chan are actually dating," Takao sighed.

"Hey, don't say that so loud," Kise looked cautiously from side to side.

"Aw, come on, this place is loud as hell and there isn't any paparazzi here," Takao slumped onto a bar stool, Kise joining him.

"You never know," Kise said quietly. It was barely audible.

"Still, I can't believe it. I'm really happy for you guys, though," Takao continued. "I thought Kuroko-chan was going to be a hard guy to catch - but he really likes you!"

"I'm not sure if I should be flattered or not," Kise narrowed his eyes.

Takao let out a laugh. "Its a compliment! I guess... Kuroko-chan just seems like the type who's really difficult to court."

"Yeah, I thought so too, but..." Kise paused, smiling to himself, "I guess I just got lucky that he felt the same way..."

"Ah, I'm jealous though!" Takao said in a huff, slumping over the bar counter.

"Midorimacchi might be difficult to get through to as well, but I have faith in you!" Kise said in a motivational voice.

Takao let out a long sigh. "I don't know... the other day I just... kissed him. And I haven't heard from him since... I don't know how to face him tomorrow."

"Err, yeah... I don't know what to tell you about that..."

Takao let out an audible groan.

"B-But he didn't look angry, right?" Kise continued.

"No, but he looked utterly stupefied," Takao sighed again. "Like I had just ripped off all my clothes and started running around naked."

"Maybe that would've worked better," Kise said, holding back a laugh.

"Its not funny!" Takao jabbed Kise on the arm.

Kise let out his laugh as he tried to avoid the swings of Takao's fists. "Just be yourself when you run into him again. And apologize... I guess? Even if you were serious, kissing someone out of the blue would probably get a negative reaction out of a lot of people."

"I guess you're right," Takao stopped with his assault and took another sip from his bottle. "Shin-chan probably won't yell at me. Probably just... Silently judge me. Intensely."

"That sounds about right," Kise chuckled. "Maybe he'll pass it off as one of your loopy antics."

"Then wouldn't that just make it harder to tell Shin-chan I'm serious about him?" Takao groaned.

"Hmm..." Kise sat in thought for a moment. "Maybe... You should just tell him then? Tell him you kissed him because you like him."

"No way! I'm not ready for that!" Takao shouted.

"Eh, you've never had any problems asking guys out before," Kise raised an eyebrow.

"I know... I don't know why its so hard now..." Takao pushed at his beer bottle with his finger. "For some reason, when I think of confessing to Shin-chan, I get so nervous..."

Kise smiled warmly, "You're really in love, aren't you? Honestly, I'm not sure I could've ever confessed to Kurokocchi if he hadn't initiated that first kiss... I would probably be in the same situation if he hadn't made the first step."

"Ah, Kuroko-chan is so manly. If only Shin-chan was as manly. His appearance is, at least. He's tall, muscular, his voice is deep... even though he's got a pretty face - he's got this strong chiseled jaw... and his ass-"

"Kazucchi, you're in public," Kise interrupted.

"I-I know," Takao blushed slightly. Then sighed for the third time that night. "Well, whether I like it or not. Tomorrow is going to come..."

* * *

"Today, we have a very special guest today," Harasawa said with a huge grin. "It was hard keeping it a secret, but today is the day we reveal that we are having a very special guest star working with us today. Please welcome - Himuro Tatsyua!"

The staff and crew clapped as a man walked into the room from where Harasawa turned to face. He was tall, and thin, but toned. He had a beautiful face; a beauty mark right under his right eye, his bangs covering most of his left one. His black hair looked like silk and it perfectly framed his face that was wearing a welcoming smile. A few of the female staff squealed in delight as he waved to the small crowd.

"Thank you for having me," Himuro bowed towards the audience. A few of the women squealed again.

"I know we already have one model-turned actor on set," Harasawa's eyes settled on Kise. "But I hope you can welcome Himuro-kun warmly as he will be guest starring on the episode we are shooting today. Be gentle with him!"

A few people chuckled.

"Alright, filming of the first scene starts in fifteen minutes so get ready everyone," Harasawa seemed to switch to serious mode quickly, clapping his hands together which caused everyone to disperse to their designated areas.

Himuro immediately made his way over to Kise, still wearing a soft smile. "Long time no see, Ryouta-kun."

"Himuro-senpai... Its a pleasure to meet you again," Kise bowed slightly.

Himuro chuckled, "There's no need to be so formal - just Tatsuya is fine. And today, you're my senpai, right? I've never acted before and you're playing are one of the main characters!"

Kise had worked with Himuro a couple years back for a magazine shoot. Himuro was already a professional model at that point while Kise was still a beginner. Kise remembered him being very kind to him, (unfortunately, a rare thing in this industry) but never had the chance to see him again since they really were on two different levels.

"I suppose I am, if you put it that way," Kise chuckled a little nervously.

"I'll be in your care then," Himuro said kindly, holding out his hand.

Kise took it and gave Himuro a firm handshake.

"Kise-kun, I've got your coffee."

Kise could feel Himuro jolt through his grasp, letting go of his hand and turning around to face the voice.

"Oh, thank you, Kurokocchi."

"Oh my, I didn't even notice you," Himuro spoke. "Oh, aren't you Taiga's..."

"Himuro-san, I'm surprised to see you here," Kuroko actually did sound a little shocked. A little.

"Huh? Another person you know?" Kise said quietly, looking back and forth between Himuro and Kuroko.

"I'm even more surprised to see you in such a place - aren't you going to school?" Himuro asked.

"Yes, but this is my part-time job," Kuroko nodded.

"Hm, what a job," Himuro glanced over at Kise before continuing. "It looks like they're about ready to start filming, but lets chat more during lunch."

Himuro winked before patting Kuroko on the shoulder and walking off.

"How do you keep knowing all these people?" Kise asked, actually feeling a little jealous.

"I guess Kagami-kun has a lot of interesting friends. Well, Himuro-san is a little more to Kagami than that," Kuroko shrugged. "I have to get going though. Sorry, Kise-kun. I have a test to get to. I'll come back during lunch." And with a slight wave, Kuroko was off.

Kise was left a little baffled, wondering what it meant when he said Himuro was more than a friend to Kagami. But he quickly had to gather himself for the filming that was going to start in mere minutes. Taking a few sips of his coffee and finding a place to sit, Kise began to go over his script.

"Kise-kun!" He could here a cheery voice call out to him not long after

"Hey, Momocchi," Kise responded before even looking, knowing a voice like that could only belong to one person.

"When the hell did you get so familiar with Satsuki to give her a name like that?"

A much less welcomed voice answered Kise's greeting. It was great as always to see Momoi. Her cousin... not so much.

"Dai-chan, I told you not to follow me! And I've already told you Kise-kun and I are just friends, isn't that right, Kise-kun?" Momoi said as she stopped in front of Kise and looked over to him for support.

"Ah, of course. Momocchi has ended up being a very good friend," Kise stood up, trying to play everything coolly. He wasn't sure if Aomine knew about their scene they shot in Okinawa, but he figured if he did, he'd probably be getting strangled about now.

"Tsk," Aomine clicked his tongue in disapproval.

"I can't believe Himuro-san is here today!" Momoi said excitedly, "I saw you talking to him early, are you two friends, Kise-kun? I believe I've seen you two in a photo spread before."

"Ohh, you've got a good memory then. That was one of my first photo shoots. Well, we're not necessarily friends. We worked together once since we're both in the modeling industry, but I'm definitely not on his level when it comes to that," Kise said a bit meekly.

"Wait... Himuro?" Aomine spoke up.

"I told you I was a fan of yours," Momoi smiled, ignoring her cousin. "That's still amazing, though, the fact you got to work with him at all - and now you get to work with him again! I'm so excited to be a part of it," Kise didn't think he'd seen Momoi so happy about something since the first day they met on set.

"HEY, who is this Himuro?" Aomine spoke louder and both actors heads turned to look at him.

"You know, Himuro Tatsuya, the model? Were you not here when they introduced him?" Momoi asked.

"Tatsu-? Shit..." Aomine rubbed the back of his neck in frustration.

"Eh? Dai-chan? Do you know him!?" Momoi grabbed onto Aomine's arm.

"Ohh, Kurokocchi said something about him being Kagami's friend, could it be that your his friend too?" Kise asked.

"Like hell I am," Aomine grunted.

"Ehhhh? Kagami-kun is friends with him too!? How come you didn't tell me!" Momoi jabbed Aomine once on the arm.

"Actors! You've got five minutes to get in place for the first scene!" Someone announced from afar over a megaphone.

"I don't want to talk about it right now!" Aomine grumbled and shook off Momoi, stomping off with a grumpy look on his face.

"I wonder what happened between them... Him and Kagami-kun still aren't talking to each other either," Momoi sighed.

"Ah, well, I'm sure they'll work something out... Or we can ask Kurokocchi for some advice," Kise suggested.

"Ohh, why hadn't I thought of that!" Momoi said in realization.

"We'll talk with Kurokocchi at lunch about it, then. But for now we should get to work," he gave Momoi a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"Ah, yes! I hope I don't forget my lines in front of Himuro-san..."

"I get the feeling he'll be the one forgetting his lines," Kise chuckled.

* * *

Takao really didn't want to open the doors to the lecture hall, but he had to. He couldn't go the rest of his life avoiding Midorima and even put his grade and education on the line for it. Even moreso he couldn't just ignore the person he supposedly had fallen head-over-heels for. But if that person hated him now... he didn't even want to be seen by him.

"Um, are you going in?" A student asked him as Takao realized he was holding onto the handle of the door for god knows how long.

"Oh, uh, yes, sorry..." Takao fumbled over his words and laughed nervously before pulling door open.

Takao quickly walked to his seat as to not have any awkward staring contests with the man he contemplated avoiding entirely, but it was obvious that Midorima was there. Of course he was there. Takao could've sat somewhere else in the lecture hall, but on impulse and despite his nervousness, he still sat down in his regular seat next to Midorima.

There was just silence for a few moments between the two as Takao clumsily fumbled through his bag for his lecture notes. As he set down his notepad, he could no longer take the awkward situation.

"H-How's it going, Shin-chan?"

"Fine." The answer came so quickly and sharply after the question was asked that Takao flinched a little.

"Great!" Takao attempted a smile and looked over at the other man.

Midorima had a stern look on his face as he glanced over at Takao. Takao still wasn't sure he had Midorima completely figured out, so he couldn't tell if that was a face of seething rage or just him being... him.

"Sorry, for the other day," Takao spat out. "I, uh, shouldn't have done that..."

Midorima didn't say anything as he directed his eyesight forward, adjusting his glasses.

Takao wanted to curl up in a ball and roll away. As he figured - Midorima was pissed about was never more happy to see the professor walk through the door to start the lecture. It was less awkward with the professor now doing his lesson, but now all Takao could think about was how he was going to deal with Midorima after the class.

An hour and half of not being able to concentrate on the lesson at all, the professor dismissed everyone and the rustling sounds of students packing away their things and leaving their seats was heard. Midorima quickly gathered his things and left without a word.

"Wait, Shin-chan!" Takao called out on impulse as he messily shoveled his things in his bag, running after the man he possibly ruined everything with.

Midorima was apparently a fast walker, because he was already halfway down the hall before Takao caught up with him.

"Hey! I think we should talk..." Takao said as he jogged up next to Midorima, catching his breath.

"What is there to talk about?" Midorima said in a stern voice.

"The other day...!" Takao tried not to shout too loudly, "I probably shouldn't have done that, but, I wasn't trying to mess with you or anything..."

Midorima stopped so suddenly it took a couple steps for Takao to realize he had.

"I'll forget about it if you just don't bring it up again," Midorima said firmly as he pushed the bridge of his glasses up.

"That's not... what I'm trying to say..." Takao wasn't sure what Midorima was getting at.

Midorima's brows furrowed slightly, "I know you like messing with me, but doing something like that in public is taking it too far so I'd like to forget about it."

"And I'm trying to tell you it wasn't like that!" Takao raised his voice as he grabbed on to Midorima's arm.

Whispers and chattering could be heard around them and they both seemed to have come to the realization that they had gathered a bit of a crowd.

Midorima's face reddened as he shook off Takao's grasp and swiftly made an escape. Takao, again, ran after him and out of the building.

"Let me explain!" Takao tried to keep his voice down, not willing to back away from this now. He wasn't going to let Midorima think that Takao was just using him as someone to pick on.

"Takao, I'm going to get angry," Midorima said in a low but almost menacing voice.

"Then just let me say what I need to and I'll leave you alone if you want," Takao said in a serious enough voice that seemed to come across to Midorima who finally made eye contact with Takao.

Takao let out a long sigh as he finally managed to get the stubborn Midorima to listen to him. He wanted to let Midorima know he was serious... no more messing around. It was now or never.

"Shin-chan... I know I can be a bit of a goof sometimes, but I only do that because I like being around you," he began. "I probably should be more aware of my surroundings... but I want to let you know - I've never thought of you as anything less than a friend. In fact, I..." Takao paused, taking a painful gulp before continuing, "... probably think of you as more than a friend... No, I do think of you as more than a friend. I... really like you, Shin-chan. I'm really happy when I'm with you, even when you're scolding me or giving me the cold shoulder," he laughed a bit to himself. "I guess... the other day, when I kissed you. I just... couldn't help it - because I like you so much! I know I shouldn't have done that, but I just... I was feeling so happy being with you. I know this is weird, and you don't have to say yes, of course. But... I really want to be something more with you, Shin-chan... Sorry..."

Takao rubbed his neck and looked up at Midorima who had been standing stark still the entire time. Takao was a little too nervous to look at Midorima in the eyes during his speech, but now that he had looked up at the other man's face, it was about as flushed as the last time he saw Midorima blush like that. Every inch of his face to the tip of his ears were bright red, and his eyes quickly darted away when Takao looked up.

"Uh, well..." Midorima sounded like he was choking out his words. "That's..."

"Sorry, I kind of gave you a confession without any warning," Takao gave another nervous chuckle. "Er, you don't have to answer at all if you don't want..."

Midorima pushed at his glasses despite them being perfectly situated on his face, "Yes, its... sudden," he tried to keep his tone composed. "I would like to not give an answer at this moment."

"That's fine! Just... you aren't angry with me - are you?" It felt like a huge weight was lifted off of Takao after his confession, but he still wasn't sure if Midorima was still mad about the other day.

"I forgive you. Anyway, I must be going," without much of a goodbye, Midorima adjusted his bag on his shoulder and nearly darted away from Takao.

Takao sighed and found a nearby bench to sit on. Well, at least that part was over. Midorima didn't look angry... maybe? He definitely looked embarrassed, which Takao figured was actually pretty cute. But of course some straight-laced guy like Midorima would react in such a way from a confession. From another guy no less.

Takao dug through his pockets and pulled out his phone, opening up the messaging screen.

* * *

Kise nearly choked on his food as he read the message he just received.

_'I just confessed to Shin-chan...'_

"Are you alright, Kise-kun?" Kuroko asked with an actual bit of concern in his voice.

"Yeah, uh, I'll tell you later..." Kise pocketed his phone, not sure what kind of reply he could possibly come up with quite yet.

"Mind if I join you two?" Himuro came up to the table.

"Himu- Tatsuya, sure," Kise kept having to correct himself with the way he addressed Himuro. The other model seemed very determined to be on a first name basis. He wasn't sure if it was because Himuro had lived in America when he was a kid or if he was just that friendly of a guy.

"Great! It'll give me a chance to talk with Tetsuya a little as well," Himuro sat down with a smile. "We have a good friend in common yet I feel like I barely know you."

"That is true despite Kagami-kun telling me a lot about you. I'm not sure why he seems to mostly spend his time with one person at a time," Kuroko responded.

"I kind of like that about Taiga, he likes to give one person his full, undivided attention. I think that's one of his charm points," Himuro smirked.

"Hm, I would agree with that," Kuroko nodded.

"I'm sure his partner would be very flattered by something like that. Which is why I'm curious as to why he's never mentioned a girlfriend," Himuro tapped his chin.

Kuroko shrugged, "Maybe he has had one and hasn't mentioned it. Although he seems to only be concerned with basketball."

Himuro chuckled, "Right? I'm sure if he could marry basketball he would."

Kise didn't want to interrupt the conversation, but he was still curious about Aomine's attitude from earlier. He wanted to wait on Momoi, but she was pulled away by her manager right when lunch break started, so he wasn't sure when she'd be back. Especially with the subject of his curiosity, her incessant cousin, hanging around and how he seems to not be on the best of terms with Himuro.

"So..." Kise spoke up, "Aomine-kun and Kagami-kun are still fighting, right, Kurokocchi?"

"It seems to be that way," Kuroko said as he took a sip from his vanilla shake he stopped by Maji to get for lunch.

"Do you happen to know why he's still upset with Kagami-kun? Momoi is a little worried about it and Aomine-kun won't say anything," Kise asked.

"Hmm, I'm not sure besides the fight they got into a while ago and the fact they're both stubborn as mules," Kuroko looked off in thought.

"Well, that Aomine has never seemed to like me," Himuro spoke up with a bit of chuckle. "I drop by to visit Taiga rather frequently, sometimes with little notice, and if Aomine is there he just gives me this killer glare."

"Eh, why wouldn't he like you!?" Kise said in surprise.

"Maybe because I interrupt him monopolizing Taiga's time?" Himuro laughed again.

"Aomine-kun is very petty," Kuroko added.

"You're pretty harsh on him..." Kise mumbled.

Before much else could be said, a jingle could be heard in Himuro's direction. The model pulled a phone from his pocket and looked down at the screen.

"Ah, this is really important. So if you'll excuse me..." Himuro got up quickly with a small wave of his hand before walking off and bringing the phone to his ear.

"Although it was a joke, I think what Himuro-san said might have some truth to it," Kuroko sipped at his shake which seemed to have been the last bit of what was left.

"What? That Aomine-kun feels like Himuro-senpai interrupts his time with Kagami-kun?" Kise asked.

"Yes, its probably why Aomine-kun isn't so fond of Himuro-san. Although I'm not sure if that has anything to do with Aomine-kun and Kagami-kun not talking," Kuroko replied. "I've tried asking Kagami-kun myself and its the same, vague answer."

"Ah, well I hope they resolve it soon. Momoccchi seems pretty worried about it," Kise sighed.

"You really seem to like Momoi-san," Kuroko eyed Kise.

"Eh, o-of course, she's become a good friend, but..." Kise glanced over at Kuroko, "I'll always like you the most..."

Kuroko gave a quick snort, turning his head away from Kise.

"Are you laughing? You're laughing!" Kise's face was dusted pink as he watched Kuroko's shoulders shudder slightly.

Kise gave a grumble and a sigh as he crossed his arms. He could feel his phone begin to vibrate in his pocket.

"Oh! I forgot about Kazucchi!" Kise shouted as he checked the phone to see another message.

_'I regret everything... (╥_╥)'_

"What's up with Takao-kun?" Kuroko asked.

"Ah... he asked Midorimacchi out," Kise said, a little disheartened by the new message.

Kuroko raised an eyebrow at that, "... Really? What was his answer?"

It wasn't really necessary for Kise to tell Kuroko that Takao was interested in Midorima, considering his quiet assistant was incredibly keen on picking these things up. So Kuroko got into the habit of occasionally asking Kise how the two were doing.

"I'm not sure..." Kise began typing, "He hasn't said how it went, but he doesn't seem happy about it, whatever it is."

_'You okay, buddy? ( ´•︵•` )'_

"He did something really stupid and just kissed him out of the blue the other day day," Kise sighed.

"Wasn't that what you did to me?" Kuroko replied.

"No! You made it really clear you wanted to be kissed!" Kise retorted.

"You didn't _have_ to kiss me," Kuroko shrugged.

"But... you can't just set up an opportunity like that and not expect me to take it..." Kise pouted as his phone went off again.

_'He told me to give him time to think about it, but every minute that goes by I can't help but think it was a mistake! I want to curl up into a ball and disappear... （；へ；）'_

_'When I get home we can talk about it. There, there...'_

"Ah, seems like Midorimachi asked for some time to answer. I guess I'll just have to comfort Kazucchi when I get home," Kise pocketed his phone again.

"As long as he doesn't try to set up Midorima-kun on dates while he's thinking of his answer I think it'll be fine," Kuroko replied in a rather snarky manner.

"Kurokocchi!" Kise groaned and splayed over the table, "Won't you ever forgive me for that?"

"Hmm," Kuroko acted as if he was deep in thought, "I'll think about it."

Kise stuck out his lower lip as he looked over at Kuroko. A moment of quiet passed between them.

"What?" Kuroko asked.

"... I really want to kiss you right now," Kise mumbled in a soft voice.

Kuroko flushed slightly and looked away. "Don't be an idiot..."

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want dinner, Shintarou?" Mrs. Midorima asked with a worried face.

"Yes, I had dinner on campus so I'm fine, thank you," Midorima said as he stopped on his way up the stairs.

"Alright, well, we still have leftovers so feel free to have them if you end up staying up late to study," his mother said.

Midorima nodded and continued his way up the stairs. It was a long day at school and he spent more time than usual at the library trying to concentrate on anything but what Takao had brought up earlier in the day. But of course, he couldn't stay there forever, and now he was in his quiet room.

Setting his bag down, he sat down rather roughly on his bed with a long sigh. He grabbed the book that had been sitting on his night stand and laid back on the bed.

Opening to the page where he left off, he read a few lines... then read those few lines again... and again. He closed the book in frustration. His study session had gone much the same; not being able to concentrate on the words or graphs on the pages. Let alone any difficult equations.

He told Takao he would think on his confession, but he didn't want to be thinking this much.

Midorima leaned over his bed and dug through his book bag to retrieve his phone. No messages. Not surprising, ever since Takao kissed him so suddenly he hadn't sent the usual message. Today was no exception.

Midorima looked mindlessly at the screen of his phone for a while before opening up the photo gallery. He rarely took pictures with his phone, let alone used any other feature it was capable of besides phone calls and the occasional text message or email.

He only had to scroll through a little to find what he was looking for. Enlarging the picture, he saw himself, Aiko and Takao all with similar, goofy hairstyles. Takao and Aiko were wearing cheesy grins and him, of course, looking aloof as usual.

Midorima paused for a moment before going to the next picture. The one just of Takao. A picture he had somehow found himself looking at a lot lately. Even before Takao suddenly kissed him. It had become something he did often. He wasn't even sure why. He wasn't even sure he remembered when he started to want to see Takao's face when he wasn't there. It was a shame it was the only picture he had of him since he was wearing those silly pigtails Aiko had put in his hair...

...Wait, it was a shame?

Midorima set down his phone, took off his glasses, and closed his eyes.

Takao was always messing with him, making him do things he wouldn't normally do, somehow managing to surprise him on more than one occasion - but he wasn't exactly sure how he was going to deal with this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another took-way-too-long-to-get-out-update but its here, at least. ;~; I fee like I say this every time, but, thank you for your continued patience and I hope you are still enjoying the story. Maybe the fact I got this out on Valentine's Day will help you forgive me just a little? uwu And hopefully Midorima's answer isn't too much of a cliffhanger (we all know his true feels anyway~)  
> If you read my other stories, I hope they don't take too terribly long to get updated as well.
> 
> Thanks so much (truly) for reading, and see you next time~! :*

**Author's Note:**

> I have a lot of planned for this so I hope you like the story so far!
> 
> Thanks so much for reading and for any kind of feedback. ^^ Feel free to follow me on twitter ([Squatta_Writes](https://twitter.com/Squatta_Writes)) for updates in between chapter posts.


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